


Until the Stars Burn Out

by scarletvisionforever



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And angst, Avengers - Freeform, Black Widow - Freeform, Bucky Barnes - Freeform, Captain America - Freeform, Civil War, F/M, Fluff, Hawkeye - Freeform, Hulk - Freeform, Infinity War, Iron Man - Freeform, SO MUCH FLUFF, Scarlet Witch - Freeform, So much angst, Thor - Freeform, Vision - Freeform, falcon - Freeform, scarlet vision - Freeform, thanos - Freeform, wanda maximoff/vision - Freeform, wanda x vision, war machine, winter soldier - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 66,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4933594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletvisionforever/pseuds/scarletvisionforever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Some people say that love lasts forever.<br/>But how can forever be defined?<br/>Until the world ends?<br/>Until everyone dies?<br/>Until the love dies?<br/>No.<br/>Forever is much more than that.<br/>Forever is...<br/>Until the stars burn out.<br/>And that is how long I will love you."</p><p> </p><p>//on hold for now//</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After the Fall

_Don't look down._

_Don't look down._

_Don't look down._

_If you look down, you will see your home plummeting to the ground and will once again realize how much you wanted to go down with it._

_You will once again have to face the reality that you just lost everything.... again._

Those were the three thoughts that encompassed Wanda Maximoff's mind while she was being carried away from the falling city-  _her_ falling city. That was where she grew up. That was where she lived and wanted to die. That place contained the last memories of not only her parents, but now her twin brother too. And now it was gone, all gone. She had nothing now. Absolutely nothing.

Wanda's mind flashed back to what she had just experienced only minutes earlier. She had just been standing there, waiting, watching, and hoping that everything was going to be ok. And then she felt it. She felt 47 bullets tear through  _his_ body, she felt  _him_ fall to the ground and land in the dirt, she felt  _Pietro's_ heart stop and his mind was ripped away from hers. The last thing he said was ' _You didn't see that coming,'_ and the last thing she told him was to ' _Go.'_  She dropped to her knees and screamed- what else could she do? Her rage rippled around her in the form of thick red waves, vaporizing several ultron robots charging at her. When she looked up from the concrete, her cheeks were stained with mascara, and her eyes were wet with tears. _You didn't see that coming._ His last words, which she had only heard through their mental connection, rang over and over again in her head. No, she hadn't seen that coming, and she certainly wished she never had. 

What happened next was more of a blur than anything. She lost control of everything; her emotions, her powers, her life, she was no longer in control of whatever happened to her. Now, she was being guided by her rage. What she did remember was holding the heart in her hand. She made Ultron heartless, although, he was heartless before she ripped the piece of technology out of his vibranium body. That monster killed her brother. And now she was going to let his work kill her too. 

Wanda was ready to die. She was willing to die. She _wanted_ to die. So she waited, just like she had been waiting in the church, for her brother to come and get her. But this time, she wasn't expecting anyone to save her, because there was nothing left of her to save. With Pietro gone, she was nothing. She was just a body without a soul, without a heart. Just like Ultron. 

And then Sokovia fell. 

And that's when _he_ came.

 _The Vision._  He picked her up and looked her in the eye for the briefest moment. He then proceeded to carry her away from her falling city and onto the large flying boat that was now carrying hundreds of Sokovian refugees. Even after landing safely, he continued to carry her. He took her into a room, an office of some sort, and placed her gently on a chair. He stood for a minute and stared down at her. Wanda assumed he must've been hoping she would say something to him. But she didn't say a word. She didn't even look up to meet his eye. Instead, she pulled her knees close to her chest and buried her head in them. 

When he finally departed from the room, Wanda was glad he hadn't said anything to her. There was no way on Earth that she would've been able to respond back if he had. Also, there might've been a slight chance that if he spoke to her, she would've choked the life out of him for taking her away from Sokovia. She had wanted to die. Why couldn't he have just let her die? How had he even known where she was? 

Wanda sobbed violently into her arms while sitting on that leather rotating chair. She couldn't stop thinking about it- no, she couldn't stop  _feeling_ it. Pietro's death flashed over and over again in her mind. 

"Wanda?" A quiet voice called her name from under the doorway. 

When Wanda heard the voice, she thought it was Pietro, so immediately her head shot up. It wasn't Pietro standing at the doorway. She would never see Pietro standing in a doorway again. Much to her disappointment, it was Clint Barton, the man who Pietro died to protect. She had seen Clint in Pietro's head. She saw him hugging Costel close to his chest and turning around to see Pietro's body had been peppered with bullets. After Pietro's heart stopped, she didn't know what had happened. But she wanted to know. She wanted to know what this Avenger did with her beloved brother's body. She needed to see him, but she couldn't find the words to ask. 

Clint hadn't expected an answer from the young Sokovian girl. He couldn't even imagine what she was feeling right now. And he couldn't help but to think that it was his fault. Wanda probably hated him because he lived and her brother didn't. But what could he do about that? Something told him that apologizing wasn't going to make it any better, so he decided to stay away from the 'S' word. "Pietro..." he said after a little bit of awkward silence. He could almost feel the tension in the room rise when he said her twin's name. "I thought you might want to see him." 

Wanda stared up at him with sad eyes. Her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying she had been doing, and the mascara she had been wearing was now smudged to oblivion all over her face. Slowly, she nodded and stood up. She couldn't get any words out right now.... maybe not ever. She walked over to the master archer, but never met his eyes. 

Clint sighed heavily and watched Wanda closely. He noticed that she wouldn't look him in the eye. Now the guilt he was feeling about Pietro all but doubled. He gently placed a hand on her back so he could guide her out of the little office she had been cooped up in. He wanted to know how she got there in the first place, or who got her there. By the way she was practically tripping over herself now, he could tell she obviously didn't walk there by herself. 

He led her down several flights of stairs into the loading dock, where all of the rescue boats that carried Sokovian refugees were now parked in neat rows. Most of the people still sat on them, and most of them, if not all of them, were hugging someone to their right or left. All of them had just lost everything they owned, and there was almost no way they were ever going to get it back. 

Only one of the boats had been emptied of all its residents. Except for one. Pietro Maximoff was lying dead on the cold surface of that boat. It had been the boat that carried Clint, as well as many others, to safety. Poor Pietro was in a totally different situation. His safety was no longer a concern...

Wanda saw him almost immediately and her clumsy walking quickly turned into a sprint. Before she knew it, she was at her dead brother's side, and the tears were once again falling from her eyes and down her cheeks. "Pietro," she cried loudly, not caring who was around. "Come back, Pietro. Don't be gone!" She wrapped her arms around her twin, not caring that her skin and clothing were getting covered in his blood. "I can't live without you!" 

It was then that several SHIELD agents, led by Captain Steve Rogers, walking into the hangar. He gestured for them to stop when he heard Wanda's loud crying and saw Clint standing and watching. He shook his head sadly and sighed, unsure exactly what to say. What a shame this whole situation was. Wanda had lost her other half in the most brutal way possible. And the worst part was, Steve knew that she was going to blame Pietro's death on herself for the rest of his life. Just like he did when Bucky fell off that train 70 years ago. 

The other Avengers came trickling into the room one by one. Thor was the first, then came Tony, then came Rhodey, then came Natasha, and finally Vision. They all stood and watched as Wanda sobbed over her dead brother's body. Her cries echoed throughout the entire room, filling it with even more sadness than there had already been. Every Sokovian citizen and SHIELD agent bowed their head in respect, some of them even letting their own tears fall. All of the people in Sokovia knew Wanda and Pietro. All the twins had ever done was help them out and stand by their side. And to see that Pietro was shot down in this horrific battle only added to the pain that they were already feeling. 

"We have to move the body," Steve finally stated in a hushed tone to Clint. Of course, all the other Avengers had heard what Steve said, but there was nothing they could think to do but exchange awkward glances. Even Tony had nothing to say in this moment. 

It was Vision who finally stepped up and began to move towards the boat where Wanda and her dead brother were lying on the ground.

The SHIELD agents carrying a stretcher took his movement as a go ahead to head towards the boat with him. 

Vision knelt down next to the sobbing young Sokovian girl and laid a gentle hand on her back. "Miss. Maximoff," he said in a sweet voice. "We must remove your brother from this environment and take him somewhere else in the carrier."

Wanda didn't look up at Vision, in fact, she tried to ignore his presence. He was the reason she was alive right now. He was the reason she wasn't with her brother in some other life- if there was one. Instead, she just clung onto Pietro even tighter, fearing that they might try to take him away from her. 

"Miss. Maximoff," Vision repeated. "I promise doing this is in your best interest. The people hear can preserve his body so you can give him a proper burial when we land. Please." He felt nothing but sympathy for Wanda. He wished more than anything that he didn't have to put such pressure on the poor girl and rip her away from her brother. but he didn't have a choice. Maybe it was all just in his head, but he felt some strange connection to Wanda, and it was this that drove him to step up and speak to her first. 

Again, Wanda refused to answer. A proper burial. Hah! If she wasn't so busy sobbing into Pietro's blood covered blue shirt, she might've scoffed at the android. The only place she wanted to bury Pietro was in Sokovia, right by the memorial the two of them had built for their parents. She couldn't bury him in America, that was not where his heart belonged. His heart belonged in Sokovia, with her... But now Sokovia was gone.

"He wouldn't want you to cry like this," he said to her after another moment of awkward silence. 

Those eight words caused Wanda to snap, and she turned around quickly to face him, her eyes glowing scarlet red. "How would you know what he wants?" She spat angrily. "You saved me, why couldn't you save him? Why is he dead and I'm alive? You have no right to be saying anything to me." Red mist began to form around her hands as she yelled at him. "You are a creation of Ultron. Ultron is the monster that killed my brother. So what does that make you?" She regretted those words as soon as they left her mouth. The hues of scarlet around her hands faded away and her eyes turned back into their normal shade of greenish blue. She realized only after she had spoken to him that it was her rage guiding her once again. She saw sadness in his mechanical blue eyes and turned her head away from him as fast as she could so she wouldn't have to face that sadness.

Vision was taken by surprise. He hadn't expected any words such as those to come out of Wanda's mouth. But he understood, and he didn't blame her. "I suppose that makes me a monster too," he said, a tinge of sadness in his voice. "But I promise you Wanda, I am not going to hurt you, nor am I going to let anyone of these men do anything to your brother's body. I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm just asking you to stand up." 

The moment Wanda heard those words leave his mouth, her grip on Pietro loosened. That small movement must've been noticeable, because as soon as she did it, the SHIELD agents carrying the stretcher were practically right on top of them. She reached out to give Pietro one last tight squeeze, but was pulled away by the same arms that carried her off of Sokovia. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She wanted to fight, but she found herself too weak. So she just reached her arm out for her brother, who they were now putting on the stretcher and carrying off the boat. "Pietro," she sobbed quietly as she watched him being taken away from her. Again. 

Vision held onto Wanda tightly, hoping she wasn't going to do anything rash. But she didn't seem to put up any fight at all when he lifted her off of Pietro and moved her away so the agents could do their job. In fact, her body almost seemed to go limp, with the exception of her outstretched arm. He was pleasantly surprised by this outcome, but was a little bit afraid that he if let her go, she might fall to the floor and never stand up again. 

Wanda didn't realize until Pietro's body was carried out of sight that she was in a room full of hundreds of people. That fact only registered when she began to hear them. The voices. It wasn't people talking out loud. It was the voices in everyone's heads, their thoughts. And she could hear them all. All of them at the same time. It seemed like her mind had finally figured out that Pietro was gone and was now looking for someone else's mind to hold onto. She pressed her hands over her ears, trying to block them out, even though she knew that would do no good. The voices weren't coming from the outside, they were inside her head. There was nothing physical that she could do to get rid of them. Soon, the voices began to give her a headache. That headache quickly turned into a migraine and she squeezed her eyes shut. Before she knew it, everything began to fade out, even the voices. It didn't take her much longer than a few seconds to figure out that she was about to pass out. 

Vision noticed Wanda's sudden movement to clamp her hands over her ears and his eyes widened. He looked down at her and tilted his head slightly to the right. "Miss. Maximoff, are you alright? Miss. Maximoff?" He saw her legs gave out from under her and her eyes closed. Her arms once again returned to her sides and she lost consciousness, right in his arms. He turned her head towards the door to his all of the Avengers and SHIELD agents had already departed from the scene. He really wasn't entirely sure what to do with the unconscious girl, but he knew for certain he couldn't leave her in that room. So he picked her up, just like he had when he carried her off of Sokovia, and took her out of the hangar and all the way to the infirmary. He laid her on the first empty cot that he spotted and stood idly at her side. He decided then that he wasn't going to leave her side until she woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to inform you all, I plan on taking this book through Civil War and Infinity War as well. So it is going to last for quite a while.   
> I'm going to try and update every two or three days, or at least as much as I possibly can. I hope you all enjoy!   
> Thank you for reading <3   
> any and all kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!!


	2. Red

Wanda blinked her eyes open several times to reveal that she was directly under a bright light. She squeezed her eyes shut just about as soon as she opened them fully and put her arm over her face to cover them. The light was blinding, or at least she thought it was. She eventually convinced herself to open her eyes again and face the light. She was going to have to do it at some point anyway, so she might as well just do it now. 

After she regained her vision, she turned her head to the right. There was several people who looked like scientists or doctors bustling about, filling out papers or setting up things on a large shelf. She saw test tubes and high tech machinery of all sorts along the wall. She decided after seeing that stuff that she must be in a lab. When she turned her head to the left, she saw several large tables with more machines and test tubes filled with colored liquids. Behind all the tables was a large window, one that took up the entire wall. This place was overlooking a giant yard with grass that was seemingly endless. She noticed several people in blue uniforms running by in lines, almost as if they were training for the army. 

Wanda turned her head back so she was looking up at the bright light again. It seemed so peaceful here, she actually li- Wait a minute. Where was here? Where was she? She sat up fast, frantically looking around the room once again. Her eyes stopped on the fields of grass she had observed moments earlier. Grass. Grass. How? Wasn't she on that large flying carrier thing? She swung her legs off the side of the cot she was laying on and pushed herself off of it. As soon as her feet hit the floor, the memories from before she passed out came flooding back to her; the carrier, Clint, Pietro, Vision, the voices. 

All the rage she had somehow forgotten about for a few peaceful moments came rushing back. Where was he? Where was Pietro? She slowly began taking steps towards the door, stumbling slightly as she did. Apparently she had gotten up too fast because her vision suddenly filled with black spots and she started to become dizzy. She leaned her hand on a nearby table to regain her balance. 

"Ma'am are you alright?" One of the scientists asked, putting his clipboard back down on the table. 

The voice of this scientist alarmed Doctor Erik Selvig, who had been busily setting up some machinery. He looked around and saw Wanda was up and moving towards the door at a rapid rate. Well, sort of. She was moving as fast as someone who had just been passed out for nearly 8 hours could move. He hurriedly made his way to her and blocked off her path to the door. "You should really lay back down. You are in no condition to be walking yet." He put his hands out in front of him, just in case she passed out again and he had to catch her. 

Wanda shook her head. "No, no. I need him," she said wearily. 

"Who?" Selvig asked, taking a small step closer to the weak girl. 

"Pietro," she told him. "I need Pietro." 

"Who?" He raised an eyebrow. He had never heard of anyone named Pietro here. Ok, he had just gotten here, but he knew nearly everyone. 

"Her brother, Dr. Selvig," Vision told him as he entered the room just in time. "Pietro was her brother." He stepped in front of the confused Doctor and looked down at Wanda. Of course, the five minutes that he needs to step out of the room to talk to the Captain, Wanda wakes up. "Miss. Maximoff," he said in a gentle voice. "You need to lie back down. You are not well enough to walk yet." 

Wanda squinted her eyes at Vision and pushed herself off the table she had been leaning on for support. "I have to see Pietro," she said sternly back to him, her strength slowly building up again. 

Vision put his hands gently on her shoulders. "You will be able to see him today, just not yet. You need to rest for a bit longer."

Wanda tried to move away from him, but he was too strong. His grip was gentle, but firm, firm enough to keep her in place. "Where is he?" She asked angrily. "Where is Pietro?"

"I cannot yet say where he is, Miss. Maximoff. You will just have to wait."

Wanda frowned and her eyes flashed red for a brief moment. No. No. She wasn't going to wait. Red mist began to radiate from her fingers and around her hand. "I want to see him now," she spat, glaring at him with menacing eyes. 

Vision sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I cannot let you." His grip on her shoulders tightened only slightly. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but he had to keep her in place. He glanced down and saw that her hands were covered in thick red. "Miss. Maximoff, please calm down. You will see Pietro soon." 

Wanda's eyes shifted into red again and she stared at him angrily. Test tubes around the room began to explode seemingly out of nowhere, the colorful contents of them spilling all over the place. "Do not tell me to calm down," she told him. She felt Vision's grip on her shoulders tighten, but that didn't stop her from creating a large hex with both hands and shooting at his abdomen, pushing him back several feet. She was about to take off running, but she stopped because she felt something stick into the back of her neck. The rest mist around one of her hands disappeared and she reached back to see what it was. Wanda pulled a green tranquilizer dart out of her skin and stared at it for a minute. She let it fall to the floor and angrily turned around to shoot a hex at whoever shot that at her. Unfortunately, before she could build enough energy to create a hex, she began to see black spots again and she could no longer hear anything. The last thing she muttered before she passed out again was, "Pietro." 

Vision was luckily fast enough to catch the falling Sokovian girl. He picked her up, just like he had before, and carried her over to the cot again. He looked around the brand new lab, which was now pretty beat up and sighed. "I apologize," he said to the scientists. 

"You don't need to apologize," Clint stated, walking out from the side door, which was tucked away right next to a large cabinet. When he heard the commotion, he had poked his head in and saw Wanda was freaking out. He didn't have a choice but to knock her out. She would've lost control and tore the whole place down. "It wasn't your fault." 

Vision looked down at unconscious Wanda and sighed. "No, I suppose it wasn't. But I do believe my presence here irked her and caused a bit of her turmoil." 

 Clint shrugged. "She'll get use to you. She is just in pain right now." He moved to the other side of the cot that Wanda was lying on. "It's going to take time for her to get use to everything, especially living without her brother." 

Vision liked how peaceful she looked while she was unconscious. It was a pleasant change from the Wanda he had just experienced only minutes ago. "Speaking of Pietro. What exactly are we going to do with him? You do know she will not rest until she is with him or he gets a proper burial." 

He nodded. "I am aware. Steve wants to get the kid out of the facility as fast as possible. And because Wanda really isn't in her right mind, he left it up to me on how exactly to do that." Clint crossed his arms and looked up at Vision. "Got any ideas in that big android brain of yours? If that is what you have..." He lowered his voice towards the end of his sentence. He wasn't entirely sure how Vision worked. Did the android even have a brain? Or was he just like a computer with programing and stuff? 

Vision felt a bit of pain when he heard the last part of Clint's sentence. It wasn't physical pain though, it was something else- internal pain. What was that called? Ah yes, being offended. Vision felt offended by Clint's harsh words. He couldn't read minds, but he knew exactly what Clint was thinking. "I do have a brain, Mr. Barton," he said almost coldly. "And yes, I do believe I have an idea." 

____________________

Wanda awoke hours later once again. But instead of waking up to a bright light above her head, she woke up to a grey ceiling. Her head was pounding as she tried to sit up and look around. She noticed right away that the space she was in now was much smaller, and there was much less high tech stuff in it. The next thing she noticed was that Vision was sitting in a seat right next to something under a white sheet. She turned her head the other way and saw that Clint was sitting in the pilot's seat. 

Wait a minute- pilot's seat? She looked out the window in front of Clint and saw nothing but blue skies and clouds. They were in a jet, flying somewhere. But where? She turned back the the other way and saw Vision had noticed she woke up. She didn't bother saying anything to him. Instead, she just looked right past him and focused on the strange white sheet next to him. Wanda swung her legs off the table she had been on and stood up. Slowly, she made her way over to where the white sheet was. How curious, it was almost as if Vision was sitting next to a body. 

She walked over to the end of the white sheet near the wall and saw some white hair sticking out of the top. Her eyes widened when she realized that what was under the white sheet was a body. And it wasn't just any body. It was Pietro's body. "Pietro," she said quietly, falling to her knees beside him. Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She couldn't cry. Pietro wouldn't want her to cry. 

Vision followed Wanda's path with his eyes, not saying a word. He knew that if he spoke he would just provoke her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do, especially because they were in the air. He could almost feel her pain when she dropped to her knees and spoke her brother's name sadly. Some part of him wished he could take all that pain away from her and put it on himself. He knew he could take the pain, he wouldn't loose control. After all, he was nothing more than a synthezoid, an android designed by a robot who was hell-bent on destroying the world. If he felt Wanda's pain, it most likely wouldn't be nearly as bad as it was while she was feeling it. 

"Where are we going?" Wanda suddenly asked, breaking the awkward silence in the jet. She laid her hand on top of the white sheet, where Pietro's chest was. Although she had wanted nothing more than to see her brother's face before, she now wanted nothing more than to never see his face again. She didn't want to see the lifelessness of it. She didn't want to once again face the reality that he was gone. If she couldn't see his face, she could pretend it wasn't him under that sheet, lying still, never to move again- never to run again. 

Wanda's voice startled Clint, and he turned his head around just enough so he could see her kneeling by Pietro in the corner of his eye. "We're going to Sokovia," he answered, not wanting to keep her waiting. 

"There is no Sokovia," she said simply back to him. 

Vision shook his head. "The city is gone, but there is still the woods next to Sokovia. I thought maybe you would want to bury your brother there instead of in America." He spoke quietly to her, not wanting to disturb her in the slightest. 

She turned her gaze from the white sheet to Vision, really meeting his eyes for the first time. "You thought of that?" She hadn't noticed that his eyes were blue before, just like Pietro's.

Vision nodded. He understood why that would be such a surprise to her. She probably saw him as a heartless robot, just like most people did. That is what Ultron was, after all, and he had been Ultron's creation. It was no wonder that people would see him like that. He tried not to feel offended again, but found it hard to suppress this painful feeling. It was so new to him, but so strong at the same time. How could his feelings be so strong? 

Wanda wanted to say thank you, but she couldn't pull herself to let anymore words come from her mouth. Instead, she just turned back to the white sheet in front of her, not even offering a slight smile. She feared she would never smile again, not after all that had happened. 

The silence lasted for the rest of the flight to Sokovia. They had only been a half hour out when Wanda woke up, so it wasn't a very long flight for her. But for Clint and Vision, it had been hours, and both of them were itching to get out of the jet. 

Clint landed them in the outskirts of the woods, or at least what was left of the woods, and opened up the back hatch of the quinjet. He unbuckled and spun his chair around before standing up and solemnly walking over to Vision and Wanda. "Ready?" He asked quietly. 

Vision stood up as well, moving to Clint's side. 

Wanda on the other hand, didn't budge. She just knelt there, almost hoping that her brother would pop up and yell _'Surprise!'_ Of course, that wasn't going to happen though. She squeezed her eyes shut for the briefest moment, hoping she could recreate an image of his smiling face, but all she got to see was his lifeless expression. She snapped her eyes open and stood up reluctantly. If she had to look into Pietro's dead eyes one more time, she feared that she would snap and never be able to come back from it. 

Clint led Wanda out of the jet while Vision carefully picked up Pietro's body and brought him outside. They allowed Wanda to pick the spot where he would be buried. Of course because she had probably never ventured so far out into these woods, none of the places there had any meaning to her, but she eventually did decide on a spot where the sun was shining and a single flower was growing. Flowers didn't grow very often in Sokovia considering the harsh weather they had all year long, so when they did find one, it was truly a miracle. 

Vision laid Pietro's body down in the sun and flew back to the jet to grab two shovels. He brought them back and gave one to Clint. Before he began the process of digging, his eyes turned to Wanda, whose sad expression was more present than ever now. He could see she was holding back tears, and he wanted to go to her. He wanted to comfort her. But he couldn't do that. She did not like him, doing such a thing would just set her off. 

The digging took less than an hour for Vision and Clint to complete. The hole they ended up with was 3 feet deep and 6 feet high, perfect for Pietro to fit in. 

Clint walked over to Wanda, who was sitting on the dirt, staring out at the large hole that use to be her home. He kneeled down next to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You ready, kid?" He asked quietly. He didn't stand until he received a nod from her, then started making his way back over to the hole. Him walking back was Vision's signal to go pick up Pietro and place him in the hole. 

Wanda stood slowly and turned around to see her brother being lowered gently into his final resting place. She didn't take her eyes off that white sheet as Vision laid it in the hole. As Vision laid  _him_ in the hole. Her whole body ached with pain while she watched. And as much as she wanted to, she couldn't recall one happy memory of Pietro at this moment. She couldn't get that image of his still body out of her mind. 

She dropped to her knees once again, right next to the hole and clutched a fistful of dirt in each hand. "Pietro," she muttered quietly under her breath. "Come back."

Clint stood off to the side with Vision, letting Wanda mourn on her own. He debated going to wait in the jet, but he couldn't do that. He felt like it would be wrong. This was the kid that saved his life, the kid that allowed him to now go back to his family and live a normal life. Poor Wanda would probably never life a normal life again, not after this.

Wanda looked down into the hole and squeezed her eyes shut. She wished that when she opened them again Pietro would be staring back at her, his face full of life once again. When she did open her eyes, she just saw the same white sheet in the hole, the ends of it flapping slightly in the wind. After she felt Pietro die, she screamed at the top of her lungs, letting out all her anger and rage. Now this was the last time she was ever going to be near Pietro again, so she did the same thing. She screamed. She didn't care that Clint and Vision were overlooking her. She screamed as loud as she could, but didn't let a tear fall from her eyes. 

A wave of red power didn't radiate around her this time, though. She destroyed nothing. What was there even left to destroy? When she let silence over take them once more, she looked back at the white sheet, which was now for some reason red in her eyes. She glanced around and noticed that everything was red. Why? Why was everything red? She cupped her hands over her face and closed her eyes again so she wouldn't have to see the red. She must've just been hallucinating, but it didn't matter. Red was the color of blood, the color that Pietro's blue shirt was stained after he was shot 47 times, the color that represented her power. And it was her power that got her and Pietro into this mess in the first place. And it was Pietro's blood stained shirt that she would see in her dreams for the rest of her life. And it was the blood of those who died in Sokovia that she had on her hands. Right now red was her least favorite color, and the last one she wanted to see on a day such as this. 


	3. Lost

The Avengers Facility was certainly a beautiful place, none like Wanda had ever seen before. Other than the construction actively taking place in the west wing of the building, it was pretty much pristine. The north part of the building was the Avengers area. No one else, other than qualified agents, was allowed in there. It consisted of a large training room, complete with a very high tech simulator and a work out room, a cafeteria and kitchen, several bathrooms, three living rooms, and separate large rooms for each Avenger. One room alone was larger than the apartment Wanda lived in with her family until she was 10. 

When the new Avengers moved into the facility, most of them personalized their room in their own way. Sam brought some pictures and his pillows from home, Rhodey brought his comforter and some of the awards he had received from the army to put on display, Natasha carefully organized her gun collection on a table near her bed, Steve hung up old newspaper clippings from the 40's and brought some other antique things no one would ever be able to find today, even Vision changed his bedsheets. That was quite strange though, considering Wanda had overheard him saying to Sam that he didn't require sleep to function. Tony told Steve that he was only staying in the facility until the construction was completed, then he would be heading back home to New York City. Thor said the same thing as well, except he planned on returning to Asgard. Clint was the only Avenger that left two days after the battle of Sokovia. 

Unlike the other Avengers though, Wanda didn't add any personal touches to her room. She left it exactly the way it was when she found it. In fact, she hadn't even crawled under the blankets and messed them up. That might not have been a big deal if Wanda spent no time in her room, but that certainly wasn't the situation. It had been a week since she traveled back to Sokovia to bury Pietro, and she hadn't left her room. She didn't eat, she didn't sleep, and the only thing she ever drank was the glasses of water some mysterious person kept leaving there whenever she entered the bathroom to be sick. 

She was making herself sick because of the lack of nutrition she was getting, and she was actually remotely happy about it. This is exactly what she wanted. Eventually, if she continued like this, she would probably die of hunger or something and she would get to be with Pietro again. It wasn't like anyone was ever going to notice or do anything about it. She heard people walk past her room, but no one ever stopped. The only person that ever entered was the one leaving the water, and she didn't know who that was, or why they cared. She was pretty sure that the only reason no one came in was because they were scared that she would blow up on them. And actually, she probably would, so they were right to stay out. 

It was about 2 in the afternoon when Wanda heard a soft knock on the door that brought her out of her thoughts. She turned her head slightly, but didn't say anything. Maybe they would think she wasn't home or something. 

Steve slowly turned the handle on Wanda's door and pushed it open. When he saw her, he noticed right away how skinny she had gotten. "Wanda," he gasped. "You look like a ghost," he told her honestly, not bothering to try and be nice. He now regretted how much time he had spent helping with the construction of the facility and practically ignoring his fellow Avengers. The only one he ever saw was Sam, who he would find in the living room at about 10 PM watching TV every night. 

Wanda stared at Steve with sad eyes, not entirely sure how to respond to that. She knew exactly what she looked like; even though she had been trying to avoid mirrors, she couldn't help but to get a glimpse at herself when she washed her hands after being sick or using the toilet.

Steve didn't hesitate after seeing her alarmingly disturbing look to walk into the room and put his hand on her shoulders. "I know you are grieving, Wanda, but you have to eat. I am not going to allow you to let yourself die." 

"I am not grieving," she said quietly in a raspy voice. "I have not cried in a week." Pietro wouldn't want her to cry, so she wouldn't let herself. She was holding it all in, for him.

Steve sighed and glanced out the window to see the agents running in their usual lines. "Come on, Wanda. That's enough of this. I'm taking you to the kitchen." He put his arm around her shoulders and forced her to stand up, making sure he was very gentle while doing so. It didn't take much strength to lift up the small malnourished girl, as she had obviously lost at least 10 pounds in the last week. He then guided her slowly into the kitchen and sat her down at the table. "What do you want to eat?" 

Wanda didn't answer him, she just kept her head down and stared at her feet. She didn't want to eat, and she certainly didn't want to be in the kitchen. She wanted to be alone in her room, away from the rest of the world, from the rest of the Avengers. 

"Ok," Steve said in an irritated way, "Mac and Cheese it is then." He turned to the cabinet and grabbed the box of Kraft Mac and Cheese sitting right in the front. Before he could even get the pot out for the water, he noticed all of the Avengers were standing at the door watching. He groaned quietly and put the box down on the counter before walking to the door and gesturing for them all to move into the living room next door. Once everyone was either seated on the couch or leaning against the wall, he spoke to them. "What the hell, guys?"

"What?" Tony asked, crossing his arms.

"You know what, Stark!" He snapped angrily. "I leave to go help some of the workers complete this facility and you leave poor Wanda in there to starve! Did even one of you go ask if she was alright?" 

"I didn't even know she was in there," Sam said. 

Rhodey nodded. "I was told there was another female Avenger, but I didn't know she was here, or where she was." 

Natasha felt a little ashamed of herself, considering she knew very well that Wanda had been in that room, but she hadn't been aware of the situation the young girl was putting herself in. If she knew Wanda was starving herself, she would've forced her to eat something.

Thor had been in and out of the facility all week, going to visit Jane and Darcy in Florida. Jane had been giving a speech about the Convergence at a science convention and he wanted to be there for her. He only stayed at the facility during the day for an hour or two, so he had also been unaware of Wanda's situation. 

"I have been leaving her water," Vision told Steve. "I tried leaving her food on the first day she stayed here, but when I returned to her room to fetch the tray I found it was untouched. She had finished the glass of water I gave her though, so I thought that would be fine if she wouldn't eat." 

Steve stepped towards Vision. "Have you approached her about eating? Or said one word to her since the two of you and Clint got back from Sokovia?" 

Vision shook his head sadly. "I have not. She is not particularly fond of me, so I tried to keep my distance. I did not want to upset her even further." He felt very bad that he hadn't gone in and talked to Wanda. Now that he thought about it, she probably needed some company, even if it was the company of someone she didn't like very much. 

"I am very disappointed in all of you," Steve said. "You cannot just treat one of your team members like that!"

Tony frowned and looked at Steve. "I don't know if you recall, but just two weeks ago, that girl was playing with our minds like toys. How can you expect us to just treat her like she is part of the team? Obviously she doesn't want to be part of the team." 

"Didn't she just loose her twin brother?" Sam asked. He had only heard whispers about her from some agents who worked around the building, but that was the one he heard most often.

Steve nodded. "Yes, she did. And I think you should at least show her a little sympathy because of that." His eyes focused on Tony and he frowned.

Tony rolled his eyes at Steve. "I don't think she wants our sympathy, Rogers. I think she wants to be alone." 

"Nobody wants to-" Steve began to say.

"That is exactly what I want," Wanda said, finally speaking out. She had only been standing at the doorway for a minute, but she was listening to their conversation the whole time through Steve's mind. Opening up her mind to him was probably a mistake, because now she could hear the voices in his head as she spoke to them. 

Every head in the room turned to face Wanda, and all of them had expressions of shock on their face. 

"Wanda I-" Steve started again, only to be interrupted by Wanda for the second time. 

"I don't want to hear it, Captain. I do not want your pity, and I do not want your help. You do not need to feel bad for not checking up on me all week, I'm grateful no one disturbed me. I just want to be left alone." A week ago, her hands might've been surrounded by red when she finished speaking, but she didn't even have enough energy to use her powers; or at least the telekinetic aspect of them. She barely even had the strength to be standing at that moment, and felt that she might collapse any second. 

All of the Avengers just stared at her with blank expressions, all of them except for Vision. He had something on his mind, but he wasn't sure whether or not he should say it. Wanda's condition disturbed him, he wasn't exactly sure why, but it just did. He couldn't just let her destroy herself because of her grief, some part of him told him that allowing her to do that was wrong. "Wanda," he stepped up and said after a long moment of awkward silence. He was going to tell her that she was important to them and that they needed her, but then he felt like someone would get angry at him for speaking for the entire team. So, he decided to say something much simpler. "At least let us provide you with one meal today. Please." 

Wanda's eyes darted to Vision when he spoke. She was surprised to hear him offer only a meal and nothing more than that. Although she still didn't particularly enjoy being around him, she had no choice but to nod. They weren't going to leave her alone if she didn't agree to this. 

The nod brought a faint smile to Vision's face and he walked towards the door where she was standing. "I will cook for you," he said, guiding her out of the room and back to the kitchen, leaving every Avenger standing there looking bewildered. He pulled out a chair for her then opened the box of mac and cheese Captain Rogers removed from the cabinet before. 

"Why do you care so much?" She asked after a minute of listening to him fumble with some pots in the drawer. Obviously Vision cared about her slightly more than the other Avengers. He had thought rescued her from the falling city, he thought of taking her back to Sokovia to bury her brother, he was leaving water for her every day, and now he was cooking for her. How could someone who had been the creation of someone so sinister be so kind?

Vision stopped his search for the perfect sized pot and looked up at her. That was a question he didn't actually know the answer to himself. Why did he care so much about her? Was it nothing more than pity? No, it couldn't be. He swore he felt some sort of connection towards the young Avenger. He didn't know what it was, or why he had it, but he knew it was there. He felt like it was his job to help her, his mission. The initial purpose of his creation had been to help the Avengers destroy Ultron, but now it was different. Ultron was destroyed, except Wanda still somehow saw Ultron in him. He thought maybe he just needed to convince her that he was not Ultron, or maybe it was more than that. He hoped that one day soon he would be able to figure this puzzle out. Until then, he would just need to say something simpler as his response to her. "Because you are in pain. I cannot feel your pain, but I can see it. And I cannot stand to let you suffer. It is not in my nature to let you, or any other human suffer." 

Wanda could almost see the lie in his eyes as he spoke. She didn't have to enter his mind to know he was thinking of more than just the suffering of humans. But instead of fighting with him about it, she just turned her head away and rested it on her hand. As she sat there in silence, her eyes began to droop closed. She didn't realize until Vision turned the water on to fill up the put that she almost fell asleep at the table. Her breathing immediately became shaky as the thoughts of what she would end up dreaming about resurfaced in her head. 

The day she returned from Sokovia and was given her room, she tried to close her eyes and sleep. She was tired, and she wanted to sleep, she thought that was maybe what she needed to feel a little better. But boy had she been wrong. As soon as she drifted off into sleep, images of her dead brother popped into her head. She felt the bullets piercing through his skin again, and she felt his heart stop beating. These thoughts repeated over and over again until she could no longer force herself to sleep. Even when she was awake the first few days, those horrifying images were all she could think about. But she found as time went on and she stopped eating and sleeping, she became too tired for her brain to function properly, and the images stopped resurfacing in her memories. She found that when she focused her eyes on something, like the grass outside or even just a spot on the floor, she could sit and stare at it all day because she had no energy to even try doing anything else. 

Vision noticed Wanda almost falling asleep while he prepared the mac and cheese for her. He turned from the stove and looked at her sadly. "Miss. Maximoff, have you slept since you moved in here?" 

She shook her head. "No. And if I can help it, I will never sleep while I'm here." 

"You will die," he stated simply, not bothering to hold back the truth.

"That is the plan," she told him. Her voice was filled with sadness, but also confidence. She really did want to die and get off of this planet. She really did believe that she could no longer live without her brother. 

Vision frowned and pulled a chair out so he could sit across from her. He noticed she refused to make eye contact with him, but that didn't stop him from speaking. "You shouldn't want to take your own life, Miss. Maximoff. Your life is worth more than you can imagine." 

"You are just saying that because you have to," Wanda said. "That's just what people say to those who are going to commit suicide. I know those words don't really mean anything." 

"I am not people, Miss. Maximoff." He looked down at his synthetic hands that were resting in front of him on the table. "I mean every word that comes out of my mouth." 

Wanda decided not to acknowledge the fact that she heard sincerity in his voice. He probably really did mean what he said, but she decided to ignore it. Instead, she chose to turn the subject on him. "What do you think you are?" 

"I'm afraid I don't understand your question..." Was she asking him what he was? Because she knew very well he was an android. 

She sighed. "I'm asking what you think of yourself. Do you think that you're a monster, like Ultron created you to be?" Not only was Wanda curious about this information, but asking Vision questions also was helping her get the sad reality of her life off her mind. 

Vision shrugged and turned to look out the window so he wouldn't have to face her while he spoke. "I don't know," he said quietly. Like he told the Avengers on the night he was born, he may be a monster, but he wouldn't really know if he was one. "I like to think I am not, but I don't know." He heard the water boiling and quickly moved back over to the counter so he could pour the mac and cheese in the pot, just like the directions told him to. When he looked into the pot, he saw his reflection. He looked like a monster, so he wasn't surprised that people probably saw him as one. After pouring the mac and cheese in and setting a timer for 7 minutes and 30 seconds, he turned back to Wanda. "Do you believe that I'm a monster?" 

Wanda was surprised by the question. She looked up at him and saw the sad look behind his eyes. She recalled that right after Pietro died she had called him a monster, but that had been her rage speaking, not her. She hadn't really meant to call him that, she just wasn't considering her words at that moment. "I don't think I do," she answered quietly. "I think you have to do something horrible in order to be a monster. And you haven't done anything wrong that I know of." She knew deep down that he couldn't have done anything to save Pietro, so the accusation she made the day she called him a monster was ridiculous. She regretted saying it now, but there was really nothing she could do about it. The words had escaped her lips and would be implanted in his mind forever. At that point, she was really just looking for someone to blame other than herself. She hadn't been able to come face to face with the reality of Pietro's death ultimately being her fault until three days ago. 

Vision couldn't read her mind, but he was smart enough to pick up on the fact that she was thinking about what she said to him last week. He could practically see the regret on her face while she sat there silence. He may not be very experienced in feeling emotions for himself, but he was absolutely able to tell what other people were feeling, especially Wanda. She, like him, seemed to experience emotions very strongly. Obviously Wanda was very connected to her emotions, considering the reaction she had to her brother's death, and the way her powers pretty much react to however she is feeling. While most people may see this as dangerous because of how powerful the small girl really was, he actually admired that in her. He did not fear her, not in the slightest. 

The silence between them was broken when Steve knocked on the door. He poked his head into the kitchen and saw what his two fellow Avengers were doing before speaking. "I hope I'm not interrupting," he said, trying to be polite, even though he knew he wasn't interrupting anything. 

Vision shook his head. "No, Captain Rogers, you were not. How can we help you?" He knew Wanda wasn't going to speak, so he just decided to speak for her, hoping she wouldn't mind.

"I just wanted to inform you both that training, which was suppose to start today is going to be pushed off until next week. I think it's better that we wait a bit." He was of course, referring mostly to Wanda. He needed her to regain some of her strength before she could start training. Obviously, right now she was in no condition to do anything physical, and he certainly wasn't going to push her into doing things she couldn't handle. Besides, she probably needed another week to mourn before she could really focus on anything else. 

"Thank you," Vision said with a nod and a small smile to the captain. He watched Steve walk out of the room, then turned back to Wanda to see what her reaction was to Steve's announcement. 

Wanda didn't want to train; not now, not next week, not ever. She didn't even know why she was here in the first place... Oh wait, it was because her home was destroyed and if she wasn't working for the Avengers, she would probably be locked away somewhere because she was a danger to the Avengers- and the world. But maybe, like talking, training could be a good distraction from her thoughts as well. Of course, that would mean she might have to sleep and eat in order to regain the energy and will power to actually do anything besides stare at different spots in her room. Not that she wanted to do either of them, but so far, these few minutes of talking to Vision have been a better distraction than everything she had been doing the whole week. She didn't plan on making talking to him a habit, though. This was a one time thing. 

"If we are going to start training," Vision said after Steve had been gone for nearly a minute, "You are going to have to start eating regularly." 

She nodded slowly. "I guess... But I do not want to eat out here in the kitchen." She didn't feel like she belonged out in the kitchen, or anywhere in the facility for that matter. She was the mouse, and this place was the maze, she would never be anything but lost while she was here. 

Vision had thought for a while that maybe his chatting with her had helped a bit, but apparently it hadn't. He wouldn't consider their talk a waste of time, though, he actually quite enjoyed it. She was the only one who really spoke to him in the facility. Most of the time all he got was a quiet 'hello' or small wave from the other Avengers. Even Tony, one of the people who helped bring him to life in the first place, avoided him at all costs. He understood that, though. Vision reminded Tony of his old friend, JARVIS, who he knew would never return now that he had uploaded him into Vision. Listening to his voice was probably nothing more than a sad reminder of who he lost in this battle. 

The timer going off behind him reminded him that Wanda had spoken and he still had yet to respond to her. "I suppose that will be alright. I do not mind bringing you meals, as long as you promise you are going to eat them." It was a bit strange that he would be cooking regularly for the next week even though he didn't require food to function. He didn't care much though, he wanted to help Wanda in whatever way possible. 

"Thank you," she replied in a quiet voice. This android was a lot more humane than she had expected him to be, maybe even more humane than most humans are. 

Vision smiled and finished preparing her mac and cheese, following the step by step instructions on the blue box. Once it was completed, he put some in a bowl and stuck a spoon in it for Wanda. He brought it over to the table and placed it down in front of her. "Now you must eat, Miss. Maximoff. But do keep in mind that you haven't eaten in a week, and your body may have a violent reaction to the food. Do not let that discourage you from eating more, though. You are going to need it." He watched carefully as she nodded and picked up a small spoonful of the cheese covered pasta. When he saw her chew and swallow it, he couldn't help but to smile slightly. This was a first step, a small first step, but a good one. There was still a long road ahead of poor Wanda, but he was going to try and walk down it with her. He was going to help her through this difficult time, at least as much as she allowed him to. 


	4. Insanity

Wanda sighed heavily and looked at the small digital alarm clock sitting on her nightstand beside her bed. It was exactly 10:34 PM. In other words, that meant it was time for her to go to sleep. If she was going to begin training next week, she would need to start doing things normal people did; like sleeping. But did she really want to? Did she really want to give up her sort-of suicide mission just because the Avengers showed her that they sort of cared about her well being. Was it actually worth it? What was the point of living if there was nothing and no one to live for? 

She stood up and walked idly into the bathroom. Usually went she walked into this room, it was because she was getting sick. But this time, she wasn't getting sick, she just wanted to look in the mirror. She turned to face her reflection and was actually quite shocked at the disturbingly skinny girl who was now staring back at her. Before she stopped eating, she had very distinct cheekbones, but now, well- they were even more distinct to say the least. If someone held up a white piece of paper next to her face and compared the color, there would be little to no difference. 

Wanda shook her head and closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, the ghost that stood before her would no longer be there. She lifted her eyelids slowly and saw that she looked the same, but there was someone standing behind her. He was just as pale as she was, and there was no life in his face or in his eyes. His blue shirt was stained with blood and peppered in bullet holes. His hair, which had once been puffy and soft, was now flat and dirty. It took her longer than expected for her to recognize that the decaying figure standing beside her was her twin brother. 

She shrieked and jumped back a bit, backing away from the mirror. "Pi-Pietro," she said stuttered, turning her head to the side. She expected that when she looked away from the mirror, her brother would disappear, but he was still there, still staring at her. "Pietro," she said again a little bit louder. 

Pietro stared at his sister, not blinking, and not moving any other part of his body. He didn't even seem to be breathing while he stood there and watched his almost dead-looking sister. "Wanda, you look horrible." 

Wanda shrieked again when she heard him speak. She took a quick step back, completely surprised that he spoke to her. She wasn't sure if she should say something back to him or scream. Could that be her brother standing in front of her? His voice was dry and emotionless, everything that the Pietro she use to know was not. How could that be him?

"Don't ignore me when I speak to you, sister. It is rude." His head tilted to the side a bit. "Do you not remember anything that our parents taught us?" Pietro took a step closer to her, his dead eyes widening. 

Wanda's breathing became shaky as she took several more steps back, only to find that the bathroom wall was preventing her from going any further. "Y-y-you're d-dead. Y-you cannot be here." She closed her eyes again, only to find that when she opened them, Pietro was less than a foot from her. 

Pietro laughed coldly. It was a laugh so dry and cold that it was menacing; nothing like Pietro's laugh use to be when he was alive. "Can you not see me, sister? I'm right here!" He raised his voice so he was shouting at her. 

Wanda could feel her heart racing in her chest, and she swore it was going to pop out any second. How could this be? What was going on? This wasn't Pietro! This was some demon who shifted themselves to look like Pietro! He was taunting her, making her want to break down, making her want to continue her suicide quest. No, no. She wasn't going to give into this. She may be physically and mentally weak right now, but she wasn't going to let this hallucination get to her head. "GO AWAY!" She screamed at the zombie-like Pietro before mustering up all the energy she could and shooting a small hex ball at it. 

To her surprise, the image in front of her faded and she quickly ran out of the bathroom and jumped onto her bed. As soon as she laid down, she felt herself getting a bit light headed. She hadn't used a hex in a week, so the sensation she felt when she did was almost strange to her. Slowly, she pushed herself to a sitting position. As soon as she was fully sitting up, her head started pounding and she squeezed her eyes shut. She rubbed her temples slowly, hoping that the headache would disappear and she could focus on forgetting what had just happened in the bathroom. But when she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a smiling Pietro standing by the closet. 

Wanda gasped and quickly backed up on her bed towards the headboard. There was something different about this Pietro, though. Actually, everything was different about this Pietro. His hair was puffy and white, his shirt had no red stains, his skin had not been pierced by bullets, and his face was once again full of life. "Pietro," she said quietly after realizing he was no longer scary and zombie-like. "I-is that you?'

Pietro laughed wholeheartedly and took a step closer to the bed his sister was curled up on. "Of course it's me, Wanda! Who else would it be?" A smirk appeared on his face and he suddenly appeared on the side of Wanda's bed, causing her to jump a bit. He hadn't run there and appeared, but he had just disappeared in one spot and appeared in the other; it was like he teleported there. 

Wanda moved to the opposite side of the bed that Pietro was on, trying to stay as far away from him as possible. She shook her head. "No, it can't be you. You're dead!" What was happening right now? Pietro couldn't be a ghost! Ghosts aren't real!

Pietro laughed again, just like he had been doing before. "I'm not dead, silly! I'm right there!" He lifted his arm and pointed to Wanda's head. 

Wanda instinctively touched a hand to her head, almost as if to check whether or not there was something there. "In my head?" 

Pietro nodded and disappeared from his spot, only to appear right behind Wanda. After she shrieked and jumped to the other side of the bed, he smiled. "Yep, exactly." 

"S-so I'm hallucinating?" She asked, stuttering a bit. So much was going through her head right now. This couldn't be real. There was no way this could be real. She was dreaming! That was it! She was definitely having some horrible nightmare right now. _Wake up, Wanda! Wake up!_ She tried pinching her skin discreetly, hoping the ghost/hallucination of Pietro wouldn't notice. He didn't end up noticing, but unfortunately, she felt the pain of her fingers pressing her skin together. That meant this was probably not a dream... or maybe it was just a really,  _really_ vivid one.  _  
_

He chuckled. "Oh no, Wanda. It's much worse than that." He teleported to the other side of the bed and leaned in so he was right next to her face. "You're going _insane_." 

She jumped back again and shook her head. Slowly, she climbed off the bed and started backing towards the wall. "No, no, no. I-I'm not going insane. I can't be." There were two things that Wanda feared in this world; one of them had already come true, and the other was insanity. Back when she was living on the streets in Sokovia, she and Pietro had encountered some strange people. Some of them were just weird looking, but others were mentally damaged in some way. She saw how they shouted at the sky and the ground, saying strange words in weird made up languages. She noticed the weird looks they would get from other people, the way they were silently judged by everyone that passed by. She never wanted to be like them, ever. And when she was given such an immense amount of power by Strucker, her fear of insanity only grew. Because of the strange mental powers she had, she knew the probability of her loosing her mind grew each and every day, but Pietro had always said he would be there to make sure she stays sane; to make sure she never ends up like the schizophrenic old man who use to live in a cardboard box near them. But now Pietro was gone, so there was no one to keep her from going insane, no one to keep her grounded in reality. 

She saw the smug look on Pietro's face and she knew her hallucination wasn't lying to her. She was going crazy. She reached for the handle of her door slowly and turned it as soon as she had her hand on it. 

"Where are you going?" Pietro shouted after Wanda as she ran out the door and down the hallway. 

Wanda had no idea where she was going, she just needed to go. She could hear Pietro's voice echoing in her head as she dashed through the empty halls of the facility.  _It's much worse than that, Wanda. You're going insane. Insane. Insane. Insane._  She could feel tears stinging her eyes now, but the last thing she wanted to do was cry.  _  
_

Suddenly, Pietro appeared in front of her and crossed his arms. "Look at yourself," he said, "You have caused your own insanity."

Wanda stopped herself as fast as she could and turned around. She could feel her legs becoming weak under her as she ran and ran and ran. She didn't realize until she no longer felt her legs that she shouldn't be running right now. She had no energy and no strength, right now she was running on pure adrenaline. 

Pietro popped out in front of her once again. "You cannot run from this, Wanda. This is your own fault." 

Wanda skidded to a stop once again and turned down the nearest hallway. She could see the exit to the facility at the end of it, so she picked up her speed as much as she could. As she approached the door, she began seeing black spots in her vision.  _Oh no_. She was going to pass out again. She told herself that she had to push on, she had to get out of the facility, away from Pietro. 

She pushed the double doors open with both hands and ran into the open field. The sudden feeling of the brisk air hitting her skin caused her to slow down tremendously. Wanda glanced around her, looking for her brother in the large field. When she saw no signs of him, she allowed herself to collapse on the cool grass. She cupped her hands over her face and finally let the tears roll down her cheeks. Her head shook back and forth the whole time she cried.  _No, no, no, no. This can't be happening._

Her shoulders shook as she removed her hands from her face and stared down at them. _Look at yourself. You have caused your own insanity._ She caused her own insanity.. What did he mean by that? She believed it was him dying that caused her insanity. Or wait... maybe it was her. Wanda's eyes widened as she came upon the realization that she was the sole reason she was loosing her mind. It was because she hadn't slept in a week, or eaten a morsel of food. Sure, Pietro's death had caused her reaction, but it was her choice to isolate and starve herself. He was right, she was causing her own insanity. 

Wanda stopped her sobbing for a minute to think. She still wanted to die, it was still her goal. But how much longer would it take to die considering that the Avengers would now be checking up on her feeding her? There was nothing she could do to avoid this, in fact, if she tried to then she might end up being force fed and locked in a cage. So instead of trying to avoid it, maybe she should embrace it? Maybe she should try to live without Pietro in her life. Of course it would be difficult, more than difficult. But she could  _try._ Isn't that what Pietro would want? Isn't that why her mind created a hallucination of him? 

She needed a wake up call. She needed to see her decaying state in the eyes of someone who mattered to her. Pietro's presence only illuminated the fact that this was not the right thing to do. This would not be the right way to honor Pietro after his death. So  _maybe_ she should try to get back on her feet. She could eat meals, and leave her room for at least an hour a day. After a little while, she might be able to even be social with another Avenger. 

Wanda knew this process was going to be long and grueling, and probably filled with more hallucinations, but it was also the only way she could think of that would prevent her from going even more insane. If she trained herself mentally and physically, and found herself something to keep her down to Earth, she might even be able to get rid of the insanity all together. That would probably take a miracle, though. She knew that it would probably take months, maybe even years, to fully get over Pietro's death enough to actually live a life again. But she would do it, or she would at least try, for him. She would do this for Pietro.

Wanda was snapped out of her thoughts by a voice calling for her from a few feet away. 

"Miss. Maximoff," Vision said in a loud voice, but not yet loud enough to be qualified as shouting. "Are you alright?" He approached her slowly, hovering just low enough for the grass to rub against his feet as he flew. He liked the feeling of grass, it intrigued him; Somehow it was prickly and soft at the same time. 

She quickly wiped any remaining tears off her cheeks and looked up at Vision coming towards her. She didn't answer him, instead she just watched his cape blow slightly in the breeze behind him. 

Vision frowned and lowered himself to the ground when he was less than five feet from her. "I can assume that is a no, then?" He did not understand her. If she was not ok, why wouldn't she just say that instead of blatantly ignoring him? It wasn't just her that did that, though, it was all humans. When Sam asked Steve how his search was going for their missing person, Steve wouldn't answer, but Vision could see the sad look in his eyes. When Steve asked Natasha how she was doing, she wouldn't respond, but he could see the hurt written all over her face. It was such a strange custom that he had yet to come understand. "You are going to get sick out here, Miss. Maximoff," he scolded gently.

Wanda's eyes narrowed at him. "It isn't even that cold out. I am not go-." _Oh wait._ She was like a malnourished twig... Maybe he was right. Slowly, she stood up and looked him. Her eyes were still puffy and red from crying, but he didn't seem to pay any mind to that. Another Avenger might've asked why she had been crying, or if she needed a tissue or something. But instead, he just spoke to her as if she was not an over emotional twig who desperately needed help.

"I think you should go back inside," he said gesturing towards the building.

Wanda nodded slowly. "It is a little chilly out here," she responded quietly. She began to take small steps back to the facility. She noticed Vision stayed pretty close to her side, well at least close enough for his cape to brush against her ankle. It tickled slightly, but she fought the temptation to laugh and kept a straight face.

When they got back inside, Vision stopped in the hallway and looked at Wanda. He observed her carefully, checking for any signs of injury that might need attention. "Miss. Maximoff, it is very late," he told her. "You should be sleeping."

"I know what I should be doing," she said in a sad voice. "But I cannot sleep..." She prayed that Vision would avoid the subject of why she had been outside in the first place. How would she explain to her logical android teammate that she was seeing hallucinations of her brother who told her she was going insane? She wasn't necessarily afraid to tell him, but she was more afraid of the look she would get from him when the words came out of her mouth.  

He nodded. "I understand. I believe you may be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. It often comes in the shape of nightmares, which ultimately prevent one from sleeping." 

Wanda's eyes widened at his accusation, but she definitely understood where he was coming from. Maybe her insanity was coming in the form of PTSD. She couldn't tell if that made this whole situation 10 times better or 10 times worse. "I guess I am," she admitted, turning away from him and taking small, slow steps down the hall.

Vision sighed and began to walk alongside her, matching at her slow pace. "It is nothing to be ashamed of, Miss. Maximoff. A lot of people experience this, especially after fighting in a war." Immediately Sam Wilson and Captain Rogers came to mind when he thought of this. Sam has not only experienced this himself, but he also spent a lot of his time helping people who also experienced it. It was quite inspiring, in his opinion. 

Wanda glanced up at him. "Is that what you think happened in Sokovia? A war?" 

He nodded. "I do believe that is what it was. I could be wrong, but war is defined as a state of armed conflict between nations, states, or different groups. Please do correct me if I am wrong, but that is what happened in Sokovia. Is it not?" 

Wanda thought about it for a minute. He was right, the battle on Sokovia had technically been a war between the Avengers and Ultron. But the term war disturbed her. A person had to sign up or be drafted into a war in order to fight, but she hadn't signed up. Or wait... When she signed up to be a guinea pig for Strucker's experiments, did that count as her signing up for the war? Maybe that was true, but something about the term still didn't feel right. "If we fought in a war. Doesn't that make us soldiers?" 

"I-," Vision faltered for a moment. Did fighting in a war make them soldiers? It hadn't exactly been a formal war, and he certainly didn't consider himself a soldier. "I don't think of it that way. We are Avengers, Miss. Maximoff, not soldiers." 

"What's the difference?" She noticed they were now approaching the door to her room, but she wanted to know what the difference was. What made them Avengers that did not make them soldiers? 

He sighed and looked down at her. He hadn't thought about it like that. "I really am not one hundred percent certain about that answer," he admitted, a hint of sadness in his voice. He saw her door just ahead of them, but he did not want to end their conversation on such a sad note. "But whether we are soldiers or Avengers, the cause we fight for is just. It does not matter what you call it, we are fighting for what is right." 

Wanda shook her head. "How do you know it's right? The Nazi's thought what they were doing was right, but everyone knows that they were the bad guys in that war." Her and Pietro had even thought they were right fighting for Ultron and trying to destroy the Avengers, but it turns out they had been the bad guys then too. 

Vision was surprised by her answer. He knew Wanda was smart, but he hadn't expected this from her; he hadn't expected such curiosity. It quite intrigued him, actually. Even in the poor mental state she was in, she could have a proper conversation with him and question things that other people may have just looked past. He was fascinated to see what she would be like when she wasn't suffering mentally and physically. "You can really never tell," he answered finally. "But I believe that the good side is the one fighting for life, and that is the side we are on, and that is the side I will always be on." 

She stopped when she reached her door and looked up at him. "How can you be so sure that you're the good guy?" 

He shrugged. "How can you not be?" Vision didn't exactly know how, but he knew he was on the right side. If the Avengers wasn't the right side, he wouldn't have helped them defeat Ultron. "Ultron and I are like two sides of a coin. Heads and tails. I am the opposite of him, and I am pretty certain I always will be. And because I know Ultron was on the wrong side, I know that has to mean I'm on the good side. But that also means you are on the good side, Miss. Maximoff." 

Wanda sighed and turned her head to face the floor. "I know the Avengers are good, or at least I think they are now. But I don't really think I am one of them. What happened in Sokovia was my fault, after all. I'm the reason Ultron was created, so shouldn't that make me bad?" 

Vision shook his head. "Absolutely not." He dismissed the idea of her ever being bad the moment that he laid eyes on her. He could see that she was good, and he would defend this theory with every fiber of his sythentic body. "Mr. Stark would've found another way to create Ultron. Maybe it wouldn't have been in the same time period, or under the same circumstances, but I can almost guarantee it would've ended the same." 

"But Pietro," she said, lowering her voice. "He wouldn't have died if it weren't for me..." 

"You do not know that. You can never really know that." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What happened in Sokovia wasn't your fault. You didn't know of Ultron's intentions. You believed you were doing good." 

She shook her head. "Every villain is a hero in their own mind." 

"Do not think that way," he said in a gentle yet commanding voice. "You are no villain, Miss. Maximoff. I will prove that to you one day." 

Wanda of course didn't believe what Vision was saying, but she wasn't going to argue with him any longer. She was beginning to grow tired of his optimism. Although, it was a nice change from her dark thoughts. 

When Wanda didn't respond, Vision got the hint that it was time to stop talking and let her go off to bed. He suddenly felt bad for keeping her from getting much needed sleep. "I will leave you now, Miss. Maximoff. Please do try and get some sleep, but if you need anything, I will not be far." He smiled half-heartedly and took a step back. "Goodnight," he said before turning and walking down the hall to his room. 

Wanda watched him disappear down the hall, then went back into her room and curled up on the bed. Now she had a lot to think about. How could she sleep with so much on her mind? She remembered then what she had decided earlier; she was going to try and get better for Pietro. And no matter how much she hated it, getting better did include closing her eyes and sleeping. So she would try. What could be better than giving it her all? And if she couldn't sleep tonight, there was always tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Now she knew she had her whole life ahead of her to figure out the whole sleeping issue. And for Pietro, she would figure it out no matter what. 


	5. Look Again

_"How could you, Wanda?" Pietro asked in an angry voice. He was standing several feet from her, his blue shirt and black paints stained with blood._

_Wanda opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. All she could do was stand there and listen. Her eyes seemed to be stuck on Pietro, no matter how hard she tried to peel them away, she just couldn't._

_"You let me die!" He shouted, taking a small step closer to her. "You're the reason, my sister, the only reason!"_

_Wanda shook her head, trying to ignore the harsh words her brother was saying. She wanted to cover her ears, but discovered that she couldn't move her arms either. She concluded that she was paralyzed with fear, literally._

_Suddenly, Pietro started laughing. It was more of an evil cackle than a laugh, though. It sounded nothing like Pietro's laugh when he was alive, and Wanda knew that, but the sound still scared her to death. A gun seemed to just appear in Pietro's hand and he fired several rounds into the air before pressing the end of the barrel to Wanda's forehead. "Isn't it only fair if you die too, sister?"_

_After he finished speaking, Ultron and several of his robotic minions walked up behind Pietro and joined in his menacing laugh. Each of them had glowing red eyes that were seemingly glued on Wanda. "You freed us, witch!" They all said at the same time. "You got rid of our strings. So now we will get rid of yours."_

_Next, Tony Stark stepped into the scene, carrying the bomb that had once laid two feet from her face. On the side was airbrushed one word, 'Wanda.' "It wasn't me who killed your parents, Maximoff. It was you."_

_His cold voice sent a chill down Wanda's spine. She felt tears begin to sting her eyes and slide down her cheeks. The sky began to grow darker as the next two people walked up. Her parents._

_Django and Marya Maximoff appeared next to Tony, holding each others hands. Both of them had ripped clothes and burnt skin. If someone was just seeing them for the first time, they would think that the two of them just walked through a fire. But Wanda knew better, she knew this was after they were killed in the bombings. Of course, she assumed that after they fell into the hole, their bodies were destroyed completely, so this was probably just a less graphic version of what they might've looked like if they had climbed out of that hole._

_Despite all of the burns and cuts, Wanda could clearly see that her parents looked just like they had when she was 10. The only difference was that instead of looking upon their daughter with smiling faces, they were both frowning and shaking their heads with disappointment. This image only made Wanda cry harder. Her whole body was shaking at the sight of all the ghosts of her past._

_The sound of Pietro's cruel voice drew Wanda's attention back to him. "We will all be better off without you." He turned his head back a little and the current Avengers team suddenly appeared there as well. All of them repeated what Pietro had just said. "Sleep well, witch," he said just before pressing his finger down on the trigger and firing a bullet straight through Wanda's skull._

When Wanda shot up, she could still hear the ringing of the gun in her ears. This had only been her third dam night of trying to sleep and she had already experienced the same dream well over ten times. It may have only been three days, but this nightmare thing had become a cycle. She would force herself to close her eyes at around 11, and as soon as they shut, she would be plagued with images of her dead brother. She would open her eyes at 12, covered in sweat. She would sit in silence in the corner of her room until about 2, trying to get her mind off of the horrible things she was seeing in her sleep. Then she would try to sleep again, only to be awakened in an hour by variations of the same nightmare. After she woke up, she would pace around her room for an hour and a half, contemplating her life and whether or not trying to sleep again was worth it. She totally didn't think it was, but she would go back and try again anyway. This time, she would only be able to sleep for a half hour until she was woken up by even worse nightmares. So for the past three days, she had been getting up at five in the morning, crying and sweating. 

She threw her blankets off of her legs and kicked her legs off the bed. What now? Yesterday she spent the day in her room, only eating poptarts that Vision brought her in the morning, afternoon, and evening. But those unhealthy breakfast pastries ended up making her sick at around 8 yesterday, so at 9 last night she went into the kitchen and threw every single box of them out. Wanda realized now that maybe throwing them all out was a bit of an overreaction, but she couldn't help it. 

She had been pissed off to no end yesterday, which probably caused her violent outburst with the poptarts. That little voice inside her head, which typically was meant to stay  _inside_ people's heads, took form outside of Wanda's head yesterday. And of course, who else would it take the form of besides Pietro. So now, because she no longer had any grip on her sanity, her brother would appear right in front of her during random times of the day.

Not only was this Pietro a constant painful reminder of what she had lost, but he was also really really annoying. She would not have minded this Pietro being around if it was actually Pietro. But it wasn't, this was only something her mind created, probably to help her deal with the loss of her brother. Of course, it wasn't helping very much, and only driving her even further to insanity. 

The sound of her stomach grumbling pulled Wanda back to reality and she turned her head to the clock. It was only 5:15, which meant no one should be up right now. If she was lucky, she would be able to sneak into the kitchen and grab a granola bar or something without running into any of the other Avengers. The last thing she wanted to do now, or ever, was be social with people. Now that her mind had fully registered that the person who was previously her anchor to reality was gone, it was now searching for someone else to latch onto. So now she was involuntarily hearing people's thoughts all over the facility as soon as she stepped out of her room. Right now, because everyone was sleeping, she could probably block out the thoughts of the few people who might be awake. 

Wanda slowly trudged out of her room and down the hall towards the kitchen, making sure her feet made no noise when they touched the floor. Lucky for her, she made it to the kitchen undetected and found her way to the cabinet where the snacks were kept. Most of the snacks that were shoved into these cabinets she had never seen before, so she had no choice but to just grab whatever she saw first and hope that it was good. She decided on some granola bar marked with 'Special K' on the wrapper, then turned around so she could leave the room. But she was unfortunately met with the smug face of her twin brother sitting at the kitchen table. 

"It's about dam time you got something to eat, I'm starving," he said while standing up. 

She sighed and turned so she was no longer looking at him. If she ignored him, sometimes he went away. But ignoring him was hard, considering that this was the only way she could sort of talk to and see her brother. 

Pietro chuckled and sauntered over to her. "Ignoring me again, huh? You remember what happened when you tried that yesterday?" He smirked and stepped in front of her. 

Immediately she recalled the memory of him telling her that the poptarts might not agree with her. Of course, he had been right. Or... maybe it was her that knew all along that the poptarts wouldn't agree with her. This image of Pietro was a creation of her mind anyway, so technically he was her. 

"Fine, don't speak to me. But if you're not going to eat that granola bar, I will!" He reached out to snack the snack from her hands, but she pulled back, not allowing him to touch it. "Ahah! So you acknowledge my presence at last!" He crossed his arms. "I knew you would." 

Dam it. Pietro wouldn't have been able to actually touch the granola bar any way, he wasn't actually there! What an idiot she was. But now that she had reacted to him, she knew he would never leave, so she really had no choice but to speak to him and maybe ask him nicely to get his ass back in her head. "Go away, Pietro," she grumbled, looking up to make eye contact with him. Looking into his blue eyes brought tears to her own, but she fought them back. She didn't want to cry while she was still standing in the middle of the kitchen. 

Pietro shook his head. "Nope. I think I'll stay." 

She groaned and squeezed the granola bar tightly in her fists, ruining its rectangular shape. "I wasn't giving you an option, Pietro. I want you to go." 

He laughed a little and shook his head again. "No you don't, Wanda. If you really wanted me gone, I wouldn't be here right now." 

Wanda gasped quietly and turned away from him. Was that how this worked? Was he there because she actually wanted him to be there? No, no way. She didn't want him to be there. This figment of her imagination was only causing her more pain. She whipped her head back around so she was facing him once again. "I don't want you here!" She shouted loudly, her voice echoing through the kitchen.

"You may not realize it, sister, but you do want me here. In fact, you need me here." He stepped closer to her. "You need me here because you aren't ready to live without me. You don't want to be alone, and you don't want to face your insanity alone." 

Wanda's bottom lip quivered and she squeezed the granola bar even harder in her hand. "I am NOT insane!" She yelled, unintentionally smashing several glasses on the counter and making the granola bar disintegrate in her hand. 

Pietro frowned. "Wanda," he said while gesturing towards her hands. "You're loosing control again." 

She looked down and saw that there was red mist orbiting around her clenched fists. She took a deep breath and re-absorbed the red energy back into her body. When she looked up, she saw the shattered glasses on the countertop and sighed. Wanda realized that the destruction would've been a lot worse had she been at full strength. Maybe she was lucky she was still weak and tired. 

Pietro's frown turned upside down when he watched Wanda regain her control. "That was good," he said happily. "Now take that and apply it to your life."

Wanda scoffed. "You say that as if it's the easiest thing in the world." 

Sam Wilson walked into the kitchen, very curious to know what the hell had been going on in there. "Hey," he said quietly once he entered and saw the new girl standing by herself. "It's Wanda, right?" 

She gasped quietly, but then nodded. Of course someone would walk in right now, and of course it had to be Sam. She knew little to nothing about Sam, but she did know that his thoughts were louder than almost everyone else's here. Every time he walked past her room, she could hear them. And now, they were even clearer. The sound of his voice was almost drowned out by the noise in his head. 

Sam took a small step closer to the young girl. "Is everything alright in here?" He asked when he saw the broken glass on the counter. 

_What the hell did this girl do? Is she drunk or something?  And dam, is she skinny. Someone needs to make her a buffet or something._

"Yes," she said quickly. "Everything is fine." 

Pietro had been sitting there in silence until Wanda spoke up. "That's a lie," he said with a frown on his face. 

He nodded. "I thought I heard you talking to someone. Is there anyone else here? Is someone bothering you?" 

_I don't see anyone else here, but it's only polite to ask. I think she might be going crazy. But that's expected considering what she just went through._

"No, no. I am alone here." She began to feel very self conscious while standing there with him, and she wanted nothing more than to run to her room and never come out again. 

"Hey!" Pietro shouted. "I'm right here!" 

Wanda had to ignore Pietro. She knew Sam already thought she was crazy, so if she told him that she was talking to her dead brother, it would only make matters worse. It did hurt to ignore him though, because although he may just be a figment of her imagination, it was still her beloved brother she was looking at. 

"Alright," he said wearily. He knew something was up, but he couldn't put his finger on what. "If you need anything, just know that my door is always open. I work for the Department of Veteran's Affairs and help people dealing with PTSD. I know you a-" 

"I appreciated your offer, but I am not a soldier," she snapped, cutting him off. "And I am perfectly fine." 

_That's a bit rude. I know what perfectly fine looks like, and it's not you. I was just trying to help, but I guess not._

Sam nodded. "Well, ok. But my offer still holds." He turned to see Steve and Natasha walking into the kitchen. "Good morning, guys. What's up?"

_Dam, Steve is so cool. Captain America, man. I wish._

Steve acknowledged Sam with nothing more than a nod before turning to Wanda. He noticed the destruction of Tony's expensive glasses as soon as he had walked into the kitchen. "Are you ok?" He asked, knowing the answer was obviously no, but he was going to get a yes from her anyway. 

_Please don't lie to me, Wanda. All we're trying to do is help. Don't you understand that?_

Steve's thoughts were loud too, just like Sam's. She took a step back, a little overwhelmed by all the voices she was hearing. "I-I'm fine. I was getting food." 

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I know you're grieving, Wanda. But we are here to help, you have to understand that. Please don't lie to us." She could easily see right past Wanda's words. The girl wasn't that great of a lier, but not the worst she had seen. Steve still sucked at lying. 

_Maybe I should offer more help? Be kinder? We are the only two females on the team, after all. It would probably be good for Wanda if she had a friend to talk to. But then again, I don't really have the time to talk..._

Wanda's breathing became ragged as she began to pick up on Natasha's thoughts too. Her head was pounding and she took several more steps backwards, trying to escape. But there was no escape, she couldn't get away. 

"You don't look too good, kid," Sam said, noticing that Wanda's already pale skin was becoming even whiter. "You should go lie down."

_Oh crap, is she going to pass out? I hope she doesn't pass out. But why would she pass out in the first place? Maybe she is just tired, or hungry, or both._

Wanda hadn't even noticed that Pietro disappeared after Steve and Nat walked into the room. She was so focused on trying to get everyone else's thoughts out of her head that she could barely even hear what everyone else was saying out loud. 

Steve reached out a hand towards her. "Wanda?" He asked, noticing that she was no longer responding to them. 

_There is no way she is going to be ready for training in three days. I wish there was some way I could help, but she isn't letting anyone in. We are her family now, she is going to have to learn to let us in soon. Or at least one of us._

"SHUT UP!" She shouted suddenly, pressing her hands over her ears. She backed herself into the wall and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing all the voices would go away and never come back. 

All of the Avengers gasped and exchanged concerned glances. Natasha was the first to step towards the scared young girl and speak to her. "Just breath, Wanda. You are going to be fine." 

_It's only a matter of time before she looses control and hurts someone. But how the hell are we going to calm her down? Obviously she doesn't like us._

"GO AWAY!" She turned around so her back was facing them, hoping that it would somehow help. Of course it didn't, though. Why would anything she did help her condition? 

Tony waltzed into the room at that moment and saw his three fellow Avengers crowded around Wanda. "What is all the racket in here?" He noticed his glasses broken on the counter and frowned. "And who the hell broke my very expensive glasses?" 

_Not that the money matters, though. I'm filthy rich. Go me! But those people woke me from my beauty sleep. How rude of them. Oh wait.. I wasn't sleeping, I was having another nightmare. Maybe I should start taking sleeping pills again._

Tony's voice being added to the to the slew of voices she was already hearing just made everything worse. First of all, she hated Tony and didn't want his voice in her head,  _ever._ And second, his voice just made the headache she had grow and grow. Four people, four people who didn't stop thinking for even a moment, were now going to make her freak out. Where was Pietro when she needed him? And not the figment of her imagination Pietro, the real Pietro; her real twin brother who she couldn't live without. 

"Tony, I don't think you should be in here," Nat said quietly, turning to face him.

_Really, Stark? I know you are aware that Wanda hates you. Do you really think your presence is going to help this situation at all?_

Tony shrugged. "In a week, I may no longer be living here, but technically it's still my kitchen. I did pay for this whole thing." 

_Go me! But wait... why should I not be in here? Oh yeah, the witch hates me. I wish I could explain to her that what happened to her parents wasn't my fault. It wasn't me who launched those bombs that collapsed in her apartment building. Wait, does she also blame me for her brother? It was me who created Ultron. That was my fault, no doubt. Ok, that she would never forgive me for._

Wanda could no longer stand it. She had to get the hell out of that room. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and pulled her hands off her ears. Although neither of those things had been making a real difference, they were comforting in some strange way. 

_Oh my goodness, she opened her eyes._

_I hope I didn't do anything to upset her._

_What is wrong with her?_

_Maybe I should get her some water or something._

The thoughts got louder and louder and louder until she felt like they were so loud she was going to explode. She made a decision that the team might never be able to let go of, but she had no choice, or at least she felt like she didn't. She mustered up all the energy she had and sent it out in the form of a translucent red wave, pushing them all backwards several feet. She felt weakened as soon as she let the energy out, but it didn't matter, she could now run past them all without having to force her way through them.

_Ouch that hurt._

_That was quite rude, but I guess we were bombarding her._

_Oh man, I think more of my glasses broke. Son of a bitch!_

_Should I go after her, or leave her be? I'm thinking she probably wants to be alone..._

 

Wanda could hear the voices of her teammates begin to fade away as she ran towards her room. When she got there, she quickly slammed the door closed and locked it behind her. She expected things to once again become quiet and peaceful, but instead the voices continued to ring inside her head. Granted they were much lower now, but they were still there. All four of them seemed to be nagging her constantly. She could still hear them while she curled up in a ball on the floor in the corner of her room. "Leave me alone," she muttered over and over, her eyes closing once again. 

Wanda didn't know how long she was actually sobbing by herself in her room. She only became aware of time again when she heard the familiar British accent of one of her teammates. 

"Miss. Maximoff, are you alright?" Vision asked while kneeling down in front of her. He noticed her eyes were red and puffy, and that the palms of her hands were bleeding. He concluded that she had been digging her fingernails into her skin for a while now. 

Wanda shook her head, but did not look up to make eye contact with Vision. She was already ashamed enough to have to admit that she was not ok, but she also didn't want him to see how bad her face looked now that she had been crying for a while. She didn't even know herself how damaged she looked, but she knew it was bad. 

Vision sighed and placed a plate of toast next to him. When he was unable to find the poptarts, he decided to make her toast instead. "Captain Rogers told me something happened with you earlier today. I did not want to disturb you, but I had to make sure you were alright." He feared that she might've attempted suicide or something of the sort. He was lucky that it only ended up being this. 

"I-I can hear everyone's thoughts," she said in a hushed tone after several moments of silence. "They are so loud." She sniffled and clenched her fists harder, digging her nails even further into her skin. 

Vision knew Wanda was a telepath, but he hadn't be sure how powerful her abilities actually were. If she could hear people's thoughts involuntarily, it certainly meant she was a very powerful telepath. Obviously she didn't yet have her abilities fully under control. He couldn't exactly understand what she was going to, but he was a minor telepath himself. The mind stone allowed him to look into people's minds, but only if they opened their mind to him first. So maybe if she opened her mind to him, he could figure out a way to help somehow. But at the moment, that way was unknown to him. "Can you still hear them?" He asked quietly, not wanting to add to the loud noise she was consistently hearing. 

Wanda nodded, but did not speak. They were still there, everyone's voices were still in her head. She feared that they would never go away. 

"Can you hear mine?" He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. If she could hear his, then she probably would've asked him to get out by now. But she hadn't, in fact, she never even suggested that his thoughts were bothering her. 

His question made Wanda look up at him and meet his eyes. She didn't realize until he asked that she actually couldn't hear his. "No," she said slightly astonished, "I can't hear your's." 

Wanda's answer brought a small smile to Vision's face. If she had said yes, he would've left right away. But now that he knew his presence wasn't hurting her, he felt like it would be ok to stay and try and comfort her some more. Maybe he could even get her to eat while he was at it. 

She felt the sudden temptation to look in Vision's head. She wanted to see and understand why she couldn't hear his thoughts. Why was it that his thoughts were so quiet and unnoticeable, unlike the others? But she was afraid, afraid of what she would find. The first time she looked into his head, she saw annihilation. And even after he had invited her to look again, she refused to do so. She still feared what she might see if she went back inside his mind. 

Vision couldn't read her mind, but he knew exactly what she was thinking when she gazed into his eyes. He knew exactly what she wanted to do. "You can look if you want, Miss. Maximoff. I assure you that what you see won't hurt you." 

Wanda shook her head. "B-but last time.. last time I was hurt. The whole world was screaming, everyone was dying. I felt it, I felt the whole world dying." The fear of feeling that again was very present in her eyes. She knew she would be driven even more insane if she was to feel that pain again. 

"Those were Ultron's thoughts, and you know I am not Ultron," he told her. "What you saw last time is not what you will see if you look again. I promise." 

She took a deep breath and nodded. He was so certain that she wouldn't be hurt by his thoughts that she felt it might be ok if she did look again. Only a quick peak. If he was telling the truth, maybe seeing inside his head would help her get rid of everything else she was hearing. Wanda straightened her posture a bit before diving into Vision's mind. To her surprise, the only thing she saw was landscapes and the sky. It was so beautiful- so peaceful. Every bit of pain she had been experiencing before disappeared as she explored his quiet mind. 

Vision could feel that Wanda was now inside his head. He saw her expression change from pained to peaceful and smiled slightly. Now that she had opened her mind to him, a part of him wanted to peak in her's and see what was causing her all that pain. But he knew that if he did that, he would then start thinking about whatever horrible things she had in her head and only cause her more suffering. So instead, he restrained himself, and just watched her expressions as she looked around his head. 

The two of them sat there in silence for more than an hour before Wanda finally pulled away from his mind and found the strength to once again stand up. She watched as he picked up the toast next to him and stand up with her. 

"Can you hear them anymore?" He asked after a moment, placing the plate of toast on her nightstand.

Wanda shook her head. "No, I can't." Now in the front of her mind was nothing but peace. Every one of the bad things she had in her head before had been pushed to the back. She assumed they would resurface another time, but for now she was happy they were gone. "Thank you," she finally said to Vision.

"It was my pleasure, Miss. Maximoff. I'd be happy to sit here with you again if you ever want me to." He had actually enjoyed his time with her, even if they hadn't spoken one word to each other for over an hour. It was nice to see her at peace.

"Wanda," she said quietly. "You can call me Wanda." It was time to ditch the formalities. Not that she cared much in the first place, but he had certainly earned the right to call her by her first name. 

"Alright, Wanda." He liked the way her name just seemed to roll of his tongue. It almost felt natural just calling her Wanda, even if it was the first time he had ever done it. "I will return later to collect your plate. Until then, enjoy your evening." 

Wanda nodded. "Thanks." For the first time since she Pietro died, a small smile appeared on her face. It felt strange to smile considering she wasn't really happy, and would never be again, but she felt it was necessary because of what Vision had just done for her. 

Even though it only lasted for a brief moment, seeing Wanda smile made Vision feel very happy. He probably would've stayed there all day if it meant he could see her smile again, but he knew that she probably wanted to be alone. So, he reluctantly turned and walked over to her door, easily phasing through it and into the hallway. 


	6. Simulator

It had already been a week since Wanda was fed mac and cheese by Vision, which meant that training was going to start today, whether she liked it or not. She didn't want to start training now, she didn't think she was ready. She was only just beginning to eat again, and her sleeping habits were getting worse every night; so much so that she was now accidentally destroying things in her room unknowingly with her magic. Vision had even informed her that she was screaming for a while at one point during the night. Her nightmares had basically transformed from scary to horrific and terrifying. If this continued, she wouldn't be able to get another hour of sleep in her entire life. 

After the incident in the kitchen two days ago, Wanda had not left her room or made contact with anyone besides Vision. She hadn't even really wanted to make contact with him, but he just phased through her wall and provided her with meals three times a day, so she didn't really have a choice. At least he had a quiet mind, though. If he didn't she certainly would've forced him out of her room in some violent way, just to get her message across. 

But despite being force fed and not getting much sleep, there was one thing Wanda found herself slightly happy about. Today, Tony Stark was leaving the facility for whatever reason. He would be staying to observe the individual performances of each new team member in the simulator that he designed, and then he was heading back to New York. Knowing that he would no longer be in the building comforted Wanda a bit more than she imagined it would. Other than herself, he was the one to blame for Pietro's death, as well as the death of her parents, so not having him around would be a bit of a relief. 

Wanda took a quick shower and threw on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that Natasha lent her until she got her own clothes. She had gained back a little bit of weight since she started to eat again, but not enough to make these clothes fit her right. She walked back into the bathroom and stood in the mirror, staring momentarily at her bony figure before picking up her hairbrush and running it through her knotty hair. 

"Hey chicken-arms," Pietro said when he appeared suddenly, sitting atop the closed toilet seat. 

Wanda no longer jumped at his sudden presence because she was actually use to him appearing now. He would appear and disappear randomly at least 4 times a day. It was strange having him around, but also comforting. She knew he was dead, but this situation also made her feel like he was still here. She couldn't help but to think that strange image of him created by her insanity was the reason she was able to get out of bed and move around every day. 

She had stopped trying to ignore him, as she knew that it was never going to work. If she turned her back to him, he would appear in front of her. If she ignored his words, he would talk louder. It was sort of strange how similar this hallucination was to the real Pietro. She thought about why they might be so similar quite often, but was only able to come to the conclusion that this was the way she remembered Pietro being, so of course it would be the way her mind created him. 

Wanda turned around to face her hallucination and crossed her arms. "You know I never liked it when you called me names," she said with a frown. 

Pietro smirked and stood up. "Yeah, except it's technically not me calling you that. It's what you think of yourself." He pointed at the mirror. "Just look, dear sister, even though you have tried to start eating right, you still look very similar to a corpse. You know, in order to begin to look like a normal human being again, you have to not only eat, but sleep and exercise as well. Staying locked up in your room, isolating yourself from the world really isn't going to help much." 

"I cannot go out there, Pietro. You're in my head, you should know why." She turned from him and walked out of the bathroom over to her closet where her boots were laying on the floor. 

Pietro chuckled and followed her, leaning against the wall when she stopped at the closet. "Oh yes, of course," he said sarcastically. "You can't step outside of this prison without hearing everyone else's thoughts." He rolled his eyes. "It's all in your head, Wanda. You have control over your powers." 

"Obviously, I do not. If I had control, I wouldn't be hearing Sam think about how much he admires Steve, and Steve think about how concerned he is and how bad he feels for me as soon as one of them steps within 50 feet of me. You get what I'm saying?" She pulled her boots onto her feet and stood up before facing him. 

"You just think you don't have control. So therefore, you don't." 

"Is that part of insanity? Or is that just anxiety?" 

He shrugged a little. "I suppose it's a bit of both. But remember, you isolating yourself is what has been driving you insane in the first place. You can turn this all around." 

Wanda shook her head. "No, your death is what has been driving me insane. Even if I did come out of my room and start talking to people, I would still be torturing myself on the inside because of what happened to you." 

He tilted his head. "I guess you make a good point there, sister. But still, it might help if you talked to someone other than me. I'm not actually here, and you know that." 

She sighed and glanced over at the clock, just to make sure she wasn't going to be late for training. Oh good, 5:50, she still had ten minutes. "I know you're not, and I don't want you to be. You being here only makes your death harder for me to deal with." 

"No, Wanda. I think me being here makes my death easier for you to deal with." He stepped forward. "I wouldn't be here otherwise." 

Wanda groaned and opened up the door of her room ever so slightly before turning back to Pietro. "Ok... But how can you think? Aren't you just in my head? Shouldn't you be saying what I think?"

Pietro nodded. "Yes, and I am, because that is what you think! But you would never believe it or realize it unless it came out of someone else's mouth." 

She ran a hand through her long brown hair and looked back to the door. This was so strange and confusing. How could this even be happening? Even as Pietro explained it, she was still utterly confused by the whole thing. She had so many more questions to ask her brother, but she was going to be late for training if she decided to stay and ask him. So instead, she just opened the door and walked out of the room, not bothering to say anything to him in the hopes that he would disappear for the rest of the day. Lucky for her, if he was still around, he didn't follow her.

To Wanda's surprise, it was actually pretty quiet in the hallway. Apparently no one was thinking, or maybe they weren't even in their rooms. It didn't really matter which one it was, as long as she couldn't hear their thoughts. She found her way into the kitchen and grabbed herself a granola bar before heading to the training room. She had never actually been in the training room before, but she had been given instructions on how to find it. Not only that, but there was also signs on the walls that guided her in the right direction. 

She slowed her pace when she approached the big white doors that were marked with a large sign reading, 'AVENGERS & FIELD AGENTS TRAINING FACILITY ONLY.' Under those words were painted smaller words that said, 'This is not a public gym. Please don't leave your sweaty socks here!' She could imagine that those words were the personal touch of Tony Stark. A frown found its way onto her face at the thought of his name. Instead of dwelling on her hatred for the man who was responsible for the death of her parents, she pushed the heavy door open to reveal the large training room. 

The walls were painted grey and the ceiling must've been 50 ft high, most likely for flight training. There was targets in the shape of circles in and in the shape of people lined against the back wall. On a black rack not far from the targets was several different types of guns, varying from little pistols to rifles and machine guns. Next to that was knives of all different shapes and sizes, and a rack holding bows and arrows. A part of her thought that was probably put there because of a suggestion by Clint. Near the large window, which took up most of the wall, was five large blue mats with the Avengers 'A' in the center, and a boxing ring. Along the wall across from the windows seemed to be the gym area. It was filled with punching bags, weights, and exercise equipment of all sorts. 

There seemed to be only one thing missing in this vast training room, and that was people. The other Avengers were nowhere to be found. She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked slowly around the room, her small footsteps barely making any noise. She came to the conclusion after walking around the entire place once that she was totally and completely alone. I was only six in the morning, there was no way she had missed it. She explicitly remembered that Steve told her to be there at six, and that she had no choice but to come or else he would double her training hours for the rest of the week. 

Wanda sighed heavily and walked over to the bench press so she could sit down somewhere. Knowing her luck, if she walked out and went back to her room, everyone would show up and she would have double training hours. So maybe it was best if she just stayed and waited it out. Someone would have to come at some point. And if they didn't, she really hoped they got double training hours instead of her. 

About thirty minutes later, Wanda heard quiet footsteps behind her and she quickly sat up and turned around. She saw that Vision was slowly walking towards her, his cape blowing slightly behind him. He smiled when his eyes met hers, but she did not smile back. What was there to be happy about? 

"You are here very early, Miss. Maximoff," he said in his usual calm tone. "Were you getting use to the new equipment?" He had noticed when he walked in she was laying on the bench press, staring at the ceiling, so the only explanation he could come up with was that she was getting comfortable with it. 

Wanda shook her head. "No, I was laying here, waiting for another Avenger to show up. I honestly didn't think anyone ever would." She stood and took several steps towards him. "And I told you that can call me Wanda." If they were going to be teammates, she didn't want him being so formal. But also, she preferred it if her last name wasn't used. It only reminded her of her family, which she didn't have anymore. 

"I apologize," he said while bowing his head a bit. "How long have you been here, Wanda?" It felt a bit strange calling her by her first name. This was only the second time he was using it, after all. But he did like the way it sounded when he said it. 

"I've been here since six, exactly when Steve told me to show up." 

Vision's eyes widened. "Training does not begin until seven," he informed her. "I suppose Captain Rogers gave you the wrong time." 

Steve had told her to show up and hour early for training? Why? Was there a reason? There had to be one. Immediately, her mind jumped to the worst of conclusions, making Steve seem like a bad guy. He probably thought she was going to be late, so he told her to show up earlier so she wouldn't be. Or maybe, he didn't think she was going to show up at all. The thought of Steve thinking things like that about her already did nothing but infuriate her. 

"Uhm.. M-," he stopped himself. "Wanda, your eyes are red." 

She hadn't realized that she was loosing a grip on her anger until Vision spoke up. She took a deep breath and turned away from him so she could compose herself again. If was moments like this that she especially needed Pietro around. Wanda glanced around the room quickly, just to check if her hallucination of him was there, but he sadly wasn't. How could he not be? She needed him.

"Are you alright?" Vision asked, his voice still calm and collected as usual. 

Wanda nodded and felt tears stinging her eyes. No she wasn't really alright. She angry that Steve had given her the wrong time on purpose, and she was upset that her hallucination of Pietro didn't show up when she needed him, and she was devastated that real Pietro was dead and never going to come back. How could she be alright? 

"Maybe you should go back to your room and rest. I would gladly es-"

"How would you define insanity?" She asked, cutting him off, but not turning to face him.  

Vision was a little taken back by her sudden question, but he did not mind answering it for her. "Insanity is defined as being seriously mentally ill, or being in a state of madness." 

She took a shaky breath and looked down at her feet. "How does someone go insane?" 

"I suppose it depends. The situation of one insane person to the next can vary. Some are born with mental illness, while others become that way because of events in their life."

"Can a person be driven mad by grief?" 

Vision nodded. "Yes, I do believe that the loss of a loved one can d-." He stopped himself from speaking when he realized that she was asking questions about herself. How oblivious could he be? Obviously she was basically asking if she was insane. He probably had just made her situation a thousand times worse. He felt a strange sense of regret, like he wanted to take back all he had just said. Guilt. That is what it was called. He felt guilty. "Wanda," he said quietly, stepping towards her once more. "You are not insane." 

"It's only been two weeks since Pietro died. Two weeks, and I already know I can't live without him. Nothing in my life has ever affected me this much. I have to be going insane." There was no other explanation for it. She was seeing hallucinations, having horrid dreams, not sleeping, isolating herself. Insanity was the only thing she could think all these things would fall under. 

"There are 336 hours in two weeks, and 168 of them you spent alone in your room. Doing such things can drive people to think things that may not be true. Besides, it is natural for you to be grieving about your brother now. People might think you were insane if you weren't reacting this way." 

She scoffed. "What I am going through is not natural, Vision. I lost a part of me, and not just like a leg or an arm; Pietro was my heart. He was all I had left, and now he is gone. How does any of that sound natural to you?" 

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and sighed. What could he say? He did not understand what she was going through, and he believed he probably never would understand what she was going through. Ultron was the closest thing he had to family, and he was gone. So really, there was no one that he could ever be close enough to whose death would provoke a reaction such as the one Wanda was having. "I am sorry," he said in a hushed tone. 

Wanda didn't respond to him or look up at him. Instead, she just walked away from him and back to the bench press so she could sit, arms wrapped around herself like before. 

By Wanda's reaction, Vision assumed she wanted to be alone, so he moved back several feet from her, but he did not leave the room or take his eyes off of her. He felt horrible for the things he had said, he felt like a failure. There had to be some way to make up for it, some way to convince her that he was truly sorry. He wasn't going to let her live like this; hating herself every second of her life because she no longer had her brother. He had to show her that there was more to life, that she had a true purpose and her brother would want her to fulfill it. But maybe it was too soon? Maybe that is why she wasn't responding well to his attempts to comfort her. Oh, how he wished he could understand so he knew when it would be ok to help her. 

Vision stood in his spot, deep in thought, until he heard the door creak open and saw Agent Romanoff walk in, followed by Sam and Rhodey. He glanced over at Wanda once, only to see that she hadn't bothered to look up since they walked in. He could almost see the pain in her eyes while she sat there and stared at the floor. 

_Uggh man it's way too early for training! But I am totally going to whoop some ass in the simulator!_

_I can't believe I'm going to have to watch these guys work with the new simulator for hours before Steve shows up. What a delight._

_Dam, this training room still gets me every time. State of the art stuff in here._

Wanda could hear their thoughts as soon as they entered the room. All three of them were so loud, and had so much to think about. She thought that maybe she would be able to block it out when she woke up this morning, but boy had she been wrong. They were probably even louder now than they had been the other day. It was the conversation that she had just had with Vision that made her loose control. Why had she talked to him in the first place? Why did she open up to him? 

"Yo Rhodey," Sam said cheerfully, nudging his friend's shoulder, "Whoever gets to the other side of the room first gets to use the simulator first." 

_All that racing against Steve better have paid off. I have to beat Rhodey or else I'm just going to look stupid._

Rhodey chuckled. "Alright, fine. But the loser has to go last." 

_I have this in the bag. I've been watching him run with Steve the past few days, and from what I've observed, he definitely can't outrun me. This will be an easy win for you, Rhodes._

Nat rolled her eyes. "You two are such children." She laughed a little as the two of them took off towards the other side of the room, but her attention was soon directed to the Vision and Wanda. For some strange reason, he was staring at her pretty intently, and for a reason that was not so strange, Wanda was squeezing her eyes shut and red mist was beginning to form around her hands. 

_Oh shit. She is going to loose control again. Is the Vision going to do something or is he going to just stand there?_

Vision noticed that Wanda was once again loosing a grip on reality. He remembered the other day when she had been stuck in the kitchen surrounded by everyone, she told him that she could hear the voices in their heads. He wanted to help, more than anything, he wanted to help. He couldn't just let her sit there and suffer like that or else she was going to hurt herself or someone else. Because she had opened her mind to him two days ago, he could now have access to it anytime he wanted. Maybe it was finally time to use this connection. 

Instead of peaking in there like he had the urge to do for the past week, he decided he would just speak to her and calm her down telepathically.  _'Wanda, just breathe.'_ He willed the thought into her mind and noticed that she unclenched her fists. Ok, that seemed to be a good step one. At least he had her attention.  _'Look into my mind. Do not pay attention to theirs."_

Wanda was surprised by how Vision could speak to her telepathically. She hadn't realized that he could do that, although she did vaguely remember him saying something about having minor telepathic powers. Whatever, it didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that she remembered his mind was calm and quiet. It was the perfect place she could go to escape the chaos ensuing in her mind right now. So that was exactly what she did; she reached into his mind and found the peacefulness of it. 

Vision's expression quickly turned into a smile when he felt Wanda's presence in his head. He was even more relieved when he saw her sitting up and opening her eyes once again. ' _You can explore my mind as much as you like if it helps. You do not have to ask to do so, either.'_

"Hey!" Natasha shouted at Wanda and Vision. "Are you two going to join us for the run-down of what's going to happen today, or what?" She knew that Wanda was going through a lot right now, but going easy and coddling her would only make her take longer to move on. If she was going to be an Avenger, she was going to have to learn to push back her feelings until she had time to herself. 

Vision stood and waited, not even turning to face Natasha. He had to make sure that Wanda was ok before he could move. He felt like it was necessary. 

Wanda pushed herself to her feet after a minute of just making sure her connection to Vision's mind was going to work. The fact that she didn't hear any of Natasha's thoughts after she shouted at them confirmed that the connection did indeed work. She looked to Vision and nodded gratefully, her eyes locking with his for only the slightest moment, before walking past him and over to where Natasha and the other two new Avengers were standing. 

Vision sighed quietly with relief before following after Wanda to meet the others. She could keep a connection to his mind as long as she wanted, he didn't mind at all. In fact, he actually enjoyed the fact that she was being calmed by his mind. It made him feel like he was actually finally helping her in some way that mattered. 

"Alright, now that you're all ready, I'm going to-" Natasha started to speak, but she was rudely interrupted by Sam.

"Rhodey cheated! He pushed me while we were running and I fell into the gun rack!" He crossed his arms angrily and glared at Rhodey. "I think he should have to go last for that."

Nat rolled her eyes again. "Ok, just because you complained, you are definitely still going last. But because Rhodey cheated, he will go second to last. Which means Vision or Wanda will be going first." 

"What exactly will one of us be doing first?" Wanda asked. They might've said it before, but she hadn't really been paying attention to their words or thoughts because she had been two busy trying to keep her powers under control.

"Good question, Wanda. I was just about to say that until someone," she said while shooting Sam an angry glare, "interrupted me." 

Sam shrugged and quickly averted her glare by glancing out the window. 

"Anyway, we will be testing out the simulator today. I, along with Tony, will be observing each of your individual performances in it. Afterwards we will all be suiting up and meeting in the hangar so Steve can discuss some things with you guys and start your real training."  
  


Sam raised his hand so he could ask Nat a question, only gaining himself another eye roll from her. "Can I use my suit and guns during the simulation?" 

Natasha nodded. "Yes. We want you to use all of your powers or weapons to the best of your ability so we can observe every part of how you fight alone. The simulation for each of you has been designed according to what we believe you may be capable of doing. Anymore questions?" She looked at each of them and nodded when she was only met with silence. "Alright lets get started, then. Wanda and Vision, discuss with each other which one of you will go first. I'm going to meet Tony up in the observation box and give you further instructions when you step into the simulator." She pointed to the door in between two punching bags. "That is the simulator over there. You can enter as soon as the person before you steps out. But do not open the door while someone else is in their simulation, it will shut the entire thing down." With that, she turned and walked out the door of the training room, leaving the four of them alone.

Vision turned to Wanda almost immediately, concern could easily be seen in his eyes as he looked at her. "Would you like to go first and get it over with?" He could tell she was dreading this whole thing in the first place, so it might be better if she just did it now. 

She shrugged and wrung her hands nervously. "I guess," she replied quietly. She was a bit worried that she would loose her connection to his mind while she was in there. That would mean she might have to listen to Tony and Natasha's thoughts while attempting to fight in a simulator. 

"Good luck, then." He smiled weakly and watched her walk slowly past him.  _'I will stand right outside the door so our minds will stay connected. I promise.'_

Wanda wanted to turn back and ask how he knew that, but then she remembered he was probably looking into her head. She walked over to the door and pulled it open. The thing required both hands to do so because it was quite heavy, to Wanda's surprise. The simulator room was larger than she had expected it to be, but also a lot more empty than she expected it to be. It had a fifty foot high ceiling, just like the training room, but the walls were covered in large grey panels. Other than that, there was really no other way to describe the place. 

"Hello there Maximoff," Tony said into the microphone from the observation box. His voice wrung throughout the entire room, echoing off the walls and disturbing Wanda greatly. He noticed that her eyes flashed red when she heard him, and was then grateful that she couldn't see where the observation box was. "Why don't you use some of that anger on the simulation, kid," he told her after a minute. 

Wanda fought the urge to pull away from Vision's mind so she could locate Tony's and twist it in some cruel way. But she knew that if she did that she would be able to hear Tony's thoughts and she wasn't going to be able to keep herself composed enough to find Vision's mind again. So instead, she just sat there and let her anger build inside her. 

"Alright Wanda," Natasha said when she finally entered the observation box. "The simulation will last an hour. If you go down before the hour is up, the simulation will end. If you get shot or hit by anything that you are fighting, it won't leave any physical marks, but it will hurt as if you were actually shot or hit or whatever. There is a red button near the door that you can push just in case of an emergency. We can also shut the simulation down from in here if we believe it is necessary. We want you to use your power as best you can, there is no need to hold back. Fight hard, but don't use all your energy right in the beginning. You will be in there for an hour if you aren't hurt, so you are going to need that energy." 

"Have you ever tried flying?" Tony asked randomly, speaking into the microphone again. He didn't even wait for her to respond, he just continued to speak, assuming the answer was no. "You know, if you focus your energy downwards, you might be able to propel yourself upwards." He chuckled. "Then you can fly like Iron Man." 

"That last person I want to fly like is Iron Man," she spat angrily at him, her eyes glowing red again. Although she hated to admit it, the flying thing actually was a good idea, though. She would never tell Tony that, though. She saw no reason to feed his already extremely inflated ego even more. 

"That's enough," Nat said sharply, cutting the two off. "Lets begin, shall we?" She pressed her hand down on a large red button in the middle of the control panel, activating the simulation. 

Wanda took a quick step back when she noticed her surroundings beginning to change. The grey panels under her feet transformed into concrete covered in a layer of dirt. The grey panels on the wall transformed into a blue sky with clouds that seemed to be rapidly moving down. When she looked around her, she saw crooked buildings and empty cars. She was in some sort of decaying structure, which she didn't recognize at first, but when she turned around, she knew immediately what she was in. _The church._

The vibranium core which she had been fighting with the Avengers to protect only two weeks ago was right in front of her. She was in Sokovia, and it was flying. She was where she was two weeks ago, only minutes before Pietro was shot. She clenched her fists when she saw several decrepit Ultron robots running towards her. This was Stark's idea. He put her back in her home. How could he? Why would he do that to her?

"Stark," Natasha said in disbelief, standing up so she could get a better view out the window. "Is that..?" She didn't need to finish her sentence in order for Stark to know what she was getting at. 

Tony stood and looked out the window, his eyes widening as soon as he saw. "Oh shit. I-i didn't meant to do that." Dammit, that girl already hated him enough, now she was probably going to strangle him as soon as she walked out of that room. 

"Can you turn it off?" Nat asked, her voice all but frantic. "Can you switch the simulation?"

He went to reach for the button that would change Wanda's surroundings, but he noticed out of the corner of his eye that she had already begun angrily ripping apart the Ultron robots. "The only way to turn it off is the emergency shut down. We can't change the simulation once she has interacted with it." 

Nat sighed and sat back in her chair. "This isn't going to be good," she mumbled under her breath. 

Wanda was fighting back tears as she tore apart each bot that came within five feet of her. Everything she saw was a cruel reminder of her brother. Every Ultron she ripped apart fueled her anger even more. She was tempted to just let the things have her, to let herself die right then, something she was prevented from doing when Sokovia actually fell. But she couldn't do it, she felt like she had to fight. She felt like if she succeeded, she might be able to save Pietro. 

For a half hour of the simulation she was guided by this idea that she could save her brother. This false hope made her fight harder than she had the day of the actual Ultron incident. But when the Ultron bots slowed and she had a moment to breath, she heard his voice in her head. 

_You didn't see that coming._

She fell to her knees, just like the day Pietro was ripped from her. And she screamed, letting a wave of red energy ripple from her body, destroying the next wave of bots running at her. It was just like that day; just like the day her life ended. But instead of going after Ultron, instead of going to rip his heart out, like he had done to her, she stayed in that church and let her rage guide her. When she stood, everything around her had turned red. There was no going back now, no calming down. Any semblance she had of control five minutes ago had now vanished into thin air. 

The next half hour of the simulation consisted of Wanda furiously shooting hexes at the Ultron bots and ripping them apart, piece by piece. Not one of them even got within ten feet of her before it was blown to smithereens. When the simulation did finally end, it took her a prolonged amount of time to notice. She still had red energy floating around her hands, and her eyes were still glowing red. 

"Wanda," Natasha said calmly into the microphone, trying to snap the angry young girl out of her rage. 

Natasha's only got Wanda's attention for a moment, but she was still angry. She held her hands out in front of her defensively, as if waiting for someone else to attack her. 

"Wanda, you have to calm down," Natasha said again in a still calm, yet commanding tone. 

She took a breath and let her hands drop to her sides. She didn't realize that she had directed her energy towards the ground and it had pushed her into the air several inches. 

"So she can fly," Tony said quietly to himself, a proud smirk on his face. He knew he had been right about that. 

"Take a deep breath," Natasha told her, seeing that the red in her eyes was beginning to fade. 

Wanda landed back on the ground with a thud. She blinked several times and looked around, barely remembering what had just happened. All she knew was that she may have just been flying and that she had just been in a simulation of Sokovia. 

"Are you ok?" Natasha asked once she saw Wanda begin to calm herself down. She was worried that she might explode with anger any second. 

Wanda didn't know what to say or do. She certainly wasn't ok. She felt weak and full of rage. Nothing made sense right now. With a quick nod, she turned and ran towards the door, pulling it open as fast as she could and darting out of the room. She ran right past all of the other Avengers, earning herself a very concerned look from Vision. But she did not stop to say anything, she just made a b-line for her room. 

After running through the seemingly endless halls, she finally made it to her room and slammed the door behind her. She didn't realize until she slumped against the door that she had tears streaming down her cheeks. She buried her head in her arms and sobbed violently into them, just letting it all out. She felt like she had failed Pietro again, that she let him die on that flying city just like he had two weeks ago. How could she do that to him? What was wrong with her? 

Her loud sobs died down after about an hour and she ended up falling asleep against her door. Instead of a nightmare ridden sleep, she was blessed with a dreamless one. This was the first time she was able to sleep for more than three hours for the past two weeks, but it was most likely the last time she would get that kind of sleep in a long time. 

When she woke up, she found herself in her bed, nestled under the blankets. She felt partly rested, but she still felt like absolute crap.  _Oh well._ At least she was feeling a little bit better. Guilt and anger still hung over her as she forced herself to get out of bed and stand up. She began to drag her feet over to the bathroom when she heard a knock on the door and groaned quietly. Couldn't she just be left alone? 

She slowly made her way to the door and pulled it open, revealing a woman she had never seen before in her time at the facility.

"Hello," the brown haired woman said with a smile. "My name is Maria Hill. You must be Wanda?" 

Wanda slowly nodded and observed her new acquaintance. Other than the fact that Maria was obviously an agent, Wanda noticed that she was holding something in her hand. It had to be some sort of clothing, considering that she was holding a hangar, but unfortunetly, she couldn't see what clothing it was because it was covered by a black bag. 

Maria held out the hangar to Wanda. "This is your new Avengers uniform. We used your previous outfits to determine what this one should look like. If anything is not to your liking, please do bring it back to me. We can fix it in whatever way you want." 

She took the hangar from Maria and stared down at the black bag. She really hadn't wanted to wear a uniform, but she probably didn't have a choice, and frankly, she was just too tired to argue. 

"If you would please put it on and meet the rest of the team in the hangar in about 20 minutes, that would be fantastic." 

"Ok," Wanda said quietly before taking a step back so she could close the door once Maria had walked away. She took the hangar over to her bed and unzipped the black bag to reveal her new outfit. It was a long red leather jacket with black patches on the bottoms and tops of the sleeves. Hung inside the jacket on the clips of the hanger was tight-looking black leather pants. On another day, this outfit might've actually made her smile, but she couldn't even think about turning up the corners of her lips and making it seem like she was happy. 

She took the uniform to the bathroom and peeled off what she was wearing so she could put it on. Even though she was still a bit thinner than usual, the shirt, jacket, and pants fit her pretty well. She would've been satisfied with the way she looked if the her face didn't look like she had just been run over by a bus. So, she decided to give herself a quick makeover and make herself look decent. This way she might also be able to hide the fact that she was totally dying on the inside and didn't want to be doing any of this. 

When she was finished, she looked like a normal human being again. It actually felt strange looking normal. She had grown accustomed to looking like trash 24/7 because she hadn't done anything with her hair or makeup in two weeks. She went into the closet to grab her usual high-healed short boots, but found that there was also a pair of much higher black boots sitting right next to her old ones. Those must've been made to go with this outfit. Gladly, she grabbed the boots and put them on before walking back out of her room and heading towards the hangar to meet the rest of her team. 

Wanda was met with the smiling faces of Rhodey, Sam, and Vision, all suited up in their full Avengers outfits. Before any of them could say anything to her, she attached herself to Vision's mind so she wouldn't have a problem with everyone else's thoughts. 

"Hey!" Sam shouted to Wanda as she walked down the stairs. "Rumor has it, you destroyed in there. I think you beat all of our asses." 

She shrugged a little. "I guess. I don't really remember..." She didn't really want to recall the events in the simulator, so she stopped speaking. 

"You must remember that you can fly, though! Nat told me it was spectacular!" Rhodey said with a big smile. 

Vision hovered over to Wanda's side to meet her as she walked over to the group.  _'Are you alright?'_ He asked telepathically, just because he didn't want the others to hear. 

Wanda looked up at him, her eyes filled with sadness. She didn't need to answer him because she he would be able to catch onto the fact that her answer was no. So instead of saying anything, she turned her attention to Rhodey. "I sort of remember that," she told him.

"Well let's see it then!" Sam said, spreading his falcon wings. "I bet I can fly higher than you." He ran forward a bit, then jumped into the air for take off. He hovered above them all while watching, hoping to encourage Wanda to fly as high as she could. 

Wanda didn't really remember exactly how she flew. She just remembered it happening. Nervously, she looked around, her eyes landing on Vision, hoping for some guidance. She didn't know why she turned to him for this, but she just did.

Vision did some calculations in his head while trying to figure out what allowed Wanda to fly. It only took him a moment to realize exactly what she had to do.  _'Direct your energy towards the ground and you should go up. But remember, you must focus or else you may fall.'_  

She nodded gratefully at him before letting all of her energy flow to her hands. Before she knew it, red mist was spiraling around them, just like it had been before. She focused her energy towards the ground and took a deep breath, really hoping this would work. She closed her eyes, hoping that might help her focus even more. She only opened them when she heard Sam clapping and making noises. She looked down and saw that she was about a foot off the ground. 

"I knew you could do it, sister!" Pietro shouted when he suddenly appeared near the window. 

Pietro's voice distracted Wanda for only a moment, but his approval brought a small smile to her face. She he wasn't real, but she felt like she was showing this new skill to her brother. She would've wanted him to see it if he was here. 

"That is very impressive," Vision said while looking up at her. She presented such grace while she flew about a foot above the ground; such beauty. He could honestly admit that this was the first time he had ever felt stunned, and he would be proud to say that it was at this moment where he first felt this way. 

The opening of the door on top of the stairs turned everyone's head away from Wanda and to Captain Rogers and Natasha. 

Sam swooped down from the ceiling and landed near Rhodey, turning his full attention to the leaders of their team.

Rhodey flipped open his mask so they were able to see his face.

Vision swirled around, reluctantly pulling his gaze off of Wanda. He would've kept it on her much longer if the Captain and Nat hadn't just walked in. But, he had to be respectful to those who were ranked above him.

Wanda slowly let up on the energy flowing from her hands, allowing herself to drop to the ground. The landing was rough, but not necessarily bad. She glanced over to the window to see that Pietro was now gone. Oh well, at least he had seen her fly for a moment. 

Steve stepped up to the edge of the stairs and held out one hand, pointing his finger towards the team. "Avengers-" 


	7. Bonding

A heavy sigh of relief escaped Wanda's lips when the alarm clock on her nightstand began buzzing. She reached her hand out and hit the button on the top so it would stop. Only seconds earlier, she had been sitting on the bed, hugging her knees close to her chest, recounting the nightmares she had while she was sleeping. No matter how hard she tried to think of something else or go back to sleep, the images just continued to flash over and over again in her head. Because of all that, she was actually happy that the alarm had gone off, telling her that it was finally time to get ready for training.

Today would mark the second week of training and the third week of living at the facility; as well as the third week without Pietro. Twenty one days without her twin brother, and it still wasn't getting any easier. It helped a little that she had her hallucination popping up every now and then, but he was beginning to show up less and less. She assumed that was because she was now spending a lot of her time around other people. Having her focus on the other's and the physical activity she was now forced to do for 5 hours a day was probably the reason she never saw that image of her brother as much. 

She slowly pushed herself off her bed and walked into the bathroom. Just like every other morning- she looked in the mirror, frowned at herself, got undressed, got in the shower, got out of the shower, brushed her hair, got dressed, put on mascara, looked in the mirror again, and frowned at herself again. It was a simple morning routine that took no memorizing or effort to pick up. This was good because she had no energy to actually try anything else in the morning. 

While Wanda had been in the shower, usually Vision would enter her room and leave a plate of waffles on her nightstand. She assumed that he somehow must've payed close attention to her morning routine so he would know exactly when she was in the shower. Some people might've thought an android sitting outside their bedroom door and listening for the sound of the shower running so they could come in and put waffles on the nightstand was creepy, but Wanda actually thought it was nice. It was something Pietro would've done for her if she was sick or just having a bad week. It also encouraged her to eat, which is something she probably wouldn't be doing if Vision wasn't leaving food for her. 

She pulled on the same tank top and sweats that Natasha had let her borrow last week for training, just like every day, and sat down on her bed so she could pick at the waffles left for her. Out of the three on the plate, she took at least four small bites of every one of them. She knew that Vision would be displeased with that if he found out, but it was just enough to get her through training, so she didn't care. After tossing her waffle leftovers in the trash, she slipped on her black boots and headed out of her room to start the five hours of torture. 

On the second and third day of training, Wanda had wondered why she was never hearing the voices in anyone's heads anymore. She guessed that would be the worst part of training, but it wasn't, because it literally never happened again after the first day. Well, almost never. There had been three or four occasions where she got angry and all the voices came rushing back to her, torturing her until she worked up the strength to tell Steve she was having a problem and was allowed to leave. She didn't realize until the fourth day that the reason she wasn't hearing any voices is because she was still connected to Vision's mind. Somehow, her mind reached out for his every day and connected to it without her even knowing. It confused her why and how her mind would just do that, but she didn't mind much; this kept the voices out of her head, so she didn't care. It was only the times when she was angry or alone in her room that she wasn't connected with Vision, so those were the times when she was most vulnerable to the sounds of everyone else's thoughts. 

Wanda strolled into the state-of-the-art training room and found that Sam and Rhodey were already there. The two of them were busy sparring each other to even notice that she came in. She decided not to say anything and let them know of her presence, this way she wouldn't have to engage in socializing. Instead, she just watched them throw punches and kicks at each other, each one trying to take the other down. At the end of the fight, Sam was the one who ended up taking Rhodey to the ground.

"Alright," Rhodey said with a weak smirk on his face, "Round three. This is my round." He lifted his fists and got in a defensive position. 

Sam chuckled. "Yeah right, Rhodes. I won round one and two, what makes you think I'm not going to win three too?" 

"Kicking me in the balls is not winning!" Rhodey exclaimed. 

He shook his head. "It so is. I took you down fair and square." He raised his fists as well and took a step closer to his sparring partner. 

"Ya know, Sam. You wouldn't have been able to take out Ultron by kicking him in the balls." 

Sam rolled his eyes. "That's because he doesn't have balls, Rhodes. But I can certainly take you down by kicking you there. Unless of course, I damaged them so much that you no longer have the balls to fight me." 

Rhodey tilted his head to the side and cracked his neck, causing Sam to make a face at him. "Ok, ok. That's rude. But what happens when you have to go up against Vision? You can't kick him in the balls either!" 

Sam lowered his fists, thinking about what Rhodey just said. "Wait a minute dude, how do you know he doesn't have balls?" 

"Because he's an robot! Why would robots have balls? It's not like they need them." 

Wanda wanted to speak up and correct them, telling them that Vision was an android, not a robot. But she decided to hold her tongue. If she spoke up, she would reveal that she was there, and she still wasn't ready to do so. 

"And how would you know that? He could be getting laid by- AGH!" 

Rhodey took advantage of Sam dropped his guard and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. He swung his foot right at Sam's soft spot, then laughed as his friend doubled over in pain. 

"That was just cruel, man," Sam choked out after a minute of rolling on the ground, moaning in pain. "We never said go." 

Rhodey almost fell to the ground in laughter. "That was payback. And it was definitely worth it!" 

The training room door opened quietly and Natasha stepped in to see Sam on the floor clutching his private areas, Rhodey practically crying with laughter, and Wanda sitting on a bench watching the whole thing ensue. "Hey!" She shouted loudly, her voice echoing throughout the large room, causing every sound to silence and every head to turn towards her. ''Training is now in session, everyone outside for a run!" 

Sam slowly stood up, still groaning in pain. "Hey Wanda," he said with a forced smile. "When did you get here?"

Wanda stood after Sam and began to walk idly towards the door. "I've been here for a few minutes." 

"Were you watching us fight?" Rhodey asked, walking by her side to the door. 

She nodded. "Just for a little." 

Sam and Rhodey exchanged embarrassed glances, then pushed open the door to the yard and took off in a sprint. 

Wanda could hear the two of them shouting things about who was going to win as they ran ahead. Slowly, she began to jog around the yard behind them. She had always hated running, it was just never her strong suit. Running was always Pietro's thing, even before the Hydra experiments. He use to run with her around the streets of Sokovia shouting, 'Catch me if you can, Wanda!' before laughing and taking off ahead of her. 

She looked to her side, hoping to see Pietro running up beside her and laughing like he use to. But she frowned when she saw that the space next to her was empty. It would always be empty, now. She was always going to be alone. Wanda had to choke back tears while she jogged around the yard now, because she decided it would be a good idea to resurface that old memory. What an idiot she was. 

"You know," Pietro said, appearing next to her, "Having me here while you think of me is not going to make this any better." He ran at a slow pace so she could keep up with him. 

Wanda looked over at him and sighed. "I know. I needed you, though. I didn't want to be alone."

He chuckled. "You still are alone, Wanda. I'm not really here. If you don't want to be alone, you are going to have to make friends with your teammates."

She quickly shook her head, shooting down the idea. "No, no. They do not like me. They are afraid of me. I cannot be friends with them." 

"You are so thick, Wanda. You have to get that dumb idea out of your head. They like you, they just haven't gotten the chance to know you because you spend all your time in your room!"

Wanda frowned. "I train with them for five hours every day, how is that not spending time with them?" 

Pietro rolled his eyes. "There is little to no socializing during training, you know that. Just because you have had to sit in the same room with them for five hours a day doesn't mean you have actually been spending time with them." 

"I do not belong here, Pietro," she said sadly, looking at the grass. 

"Keep telling yourself that and you actually won't." His voice was cold, very unlike the Pietro that Wanda grew up with.

When she looked up again, he was gone and she was approaching the door to the facility. When she finally did make it back, she saw Nat was standing there talking to Sam and Rhodey. They had all been speaking quietly before she approached, but when she was within ten feet of them, they all fell silent. She didn't need to look into their heads to realize they had noticed her talking to herself. She wanted to get angry and make them scared, but instead, she kept her cool and just pushed right past them so she could go back inside. 

"Go spar a little," Nat told Sam and Rhodey before following Wanda over to the corner of the room near the punching bags and weights. "Hey," she shouted after her, jogging up beside the angry young Avenger. "Are you alright?"

Wanda nodded. "Yes, I am fine." She kept her eyes glued to the floor so she wouldn't have to look Nat in the eyes. 

"No you're not," she said quickly. "I'm a highly trained spy, and you're not a good lier." 

She frowned and ran a hand through her hair nervously, but didn't say anything. What was the point? Nat knew there was something wrong already. 

"Hey listen." Nat guided Wanda over to the bench press and sat her down so they could talk. "I know you're going through a tough time right now. I can't even imagine the pain you must be feeling. But Wanda, shutting your team out is not going to help you at all." 

"I am not shutting you out, I acknowledge your presence." She tapped one hand impatiently on her lap, wishing she could just run back to her room. 

Nat rolled her eyes. "Come on, Wanda, you know that's not what I mean. You are part of team now, a family, we can help you if you let us." 

"There is nothing you can do to help me. I am a lost cause." She sighed heavily. "Just leave me alone and worry about everyone else."

"I'm not going to do that," she said firmly. "You and I are the only female members of this team, we have to look out for each other. So if you think that just because you say you can't be helped that I'm not going to try, then you are wrong. I want to help you get back on your feet, in whatever way I can." 

Wanda opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she heard the door open and looked up to see Vision and Steve walking in. 

"Pair up with the Vision," Nat told her while standing. "Spar for the next half hour, and then we are going to try something different." She looked down at Wanda and sighed quietly. "But remember, if you ever need anything, just ask." She flashed a small smile before turning and jogging towards Steve. She instructed Vision to spar with Wanda, then guided Steve out of the room so she could talk privately with him. 

Vision's face lit up when he was told to pair up with Wanda, and he quickly lifted himself off the ground and hovered over to her. But his smile faded when he saw the sadness in her eyes. One day he would walk up to her and see her smiling, one day. "Wanda," he said while returning to the ground. "We have been instructed to-"

"Why were you late?" She asked him, preventing him from finishing his sentence. She knew what they were instructed to do, she didn't need to be told again. 

Vision was surprised by her sudden asking him that question, but he didn't mind answering. He was actually glad she was speaking, even if it was a bit hostile. "Captain Rogers wanted to speak to me." 

Wanda stood up and looked at him. She could easily search his mind and figure out exactly what he spoke to Steve about, but she wanted to hear him speak. Oddly enough, his voice was calming, just like his mind. "About what?" 

"It was just a de-briefing concerning my first mission in three weeks. I am being sent to Florida with Colonel Rhodes to check out some possible alien activity." He watched her expressions carefully as he spoke, looking for any changes in emotion that were present on her face. Unfortunetly, she remained pretty stoic the entire time. But he supposed that was better than her looking sad. 

She nodded and began to walk over to the sparring mats with Vision at her side. "Are you looking forward to it?" Her question was forced, she didn't want to talk, but she felt like she had to in order to keep him talking. 

Vision picked up on the forced tone in her voice almost immediately. So, instead of answering her question, he decided to ask her his own. "You seem unsettled, Wanda. Are you alright?" 

Wanda stopped dead in her tracks and her gaze once again dropped to the floor. How could he tell? How on Earth could he tell how she was feeling? She watched Sam's obvious sarcasm go right over his head four days in a row now, but somehow he could tell right away when she changed her attitude... How? "I-" She was about to lie and tell him that she was fine, but she was afraid he might pick up on that too. Maybe telling the truth was just better in this particular situation. "I just miss my brother," she admitted quietly. 

"That is normal. Acknowledging that is a good thing," Vision said right away. He was surprised she told him the truth, but nonetheless, very glad. This was a step in the right direction according to all of the things he had read online about helping someone through grief. 

Before Vision could say something else that obviously came off of the internet, she decided to speak up. "Can we just spar so I can get my mind off of this?" She stepped onto the blue mat and waited for him to join her. 

He nodded and stepped onto the mat with her. "Of course." 

Their round of sparring went until Steve and Natasha walked back into the room a little more than a half hour later. Every one of Wanda's punches had gone right through Vision, so she had been doomed right from the start. Or well, she would've been if Vision had chosen to actually try and hit her. But every time he had the chance, he never did. He only threw a punch at her twice in that whole half hour and apologized both times for doing so. Wanda wanted to show him she was a little pissed he hadn't tried at all against her by using her powers and pinning him against the ground, but she couldn't do that. Nat and Steve made it a rule on the first day that there would be no power usage during sparing. So why Vision was allowed to let everyone's fists go through him every time still confused her, but it wasn't something that she was going to dwell on. 

Natasha clapped her hands and got everyone's attention as she walked towards the center of the room. "Alright everyone! Today we're going to try something a little different. Instead of actual training, we are going to get exercise in a different way." She stopped speaking for a moment to build up a little tension as everyone waited to hear what she had to say. 

"We're going to play soccer!" Steve shouted just as Natasha was going to open her mouth. 

Nat spun around and slapped Steve lightly on the arm. "Hey, I was going to say that." 

Steve chuckled. "That's revenge for saying 'assemble' before I could on the first day!" 

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Alright fine, you want to be that way. We're on separate teams, then." She side-stepped so she was about two feet from him. 

"I'm ok with that. My team will win with or without you, Widow." He smirked and crossed his arms. 

"We'll see about that," she said back with a devious smirk on her face. 

Sam hit Rhodey on the arm. "Aaaw man! I am the boss at soccer! I think whoever has me on their team is really going to be the champion here." 

"You say you are the boss at everything, Sam," Rhodey stated. 

"I only say it because it's true." 

Natasha blatantly coughed. "Ahem, if you two would please stop arguing like children, I would like to get started." 

Sam nodded and straightened his posture. "I apologize, ma'am, we can begin." He bowed his head to her and fought the urge to crack up when he met her eyes again.

Nat glared at him angrily, causing him to shrink back a bit in fear. "Alright. I want Wanda on my team." 

Nat's choice surprised everyone, especially Wanda. She guessed she was going to be picked last, after all of the physically fit people got put on a team. But whatever, it was Natasha's loss. She walked around Natasha and stood behind her, keeping her gaze on the floor so she didn't have to see anyone's stares. 

"Sam, you're on my team," Steve said next, high-fiving his friend when he walked up to join his side. 

"Rhodey, come on over here to Team Winner." 

Rhodey stuck his tongue out at Sam as he walked over to Nat's side and smiled. 

"Alright, that leaves you with me," Steve said to Vision. "Welcome to Team America." 

Rhodey chuckled. "Team America? That's such a lame name." 

"Better than Team Winner!" Sam retorted. 

"We are Team Winner because we are going to win!" 

Sam rolled his eyes. "I'd like to see you try!" 

"Again with the bickering!" Nat slapped both of their arms and began to walk towards the door. "Come on, lets go. The earlier we finish this game, the earlier you get to go back to doing whatever you want." 

When they got outside, everyone saw that two soccer nets had been set up on either side of the field. Wanda guessed that is what Nat and Steve had been doing while they were sparring earlier. She followed Nat and Rhodey to their net and stood awkwardly with them while Nat explained their strategy. 

"Rhodey, you're the goalie. But if the ball is past half field, I want you to come out of goal and help out. You're fast, you will be able to get back quick." She turned to Wanda. "I want you up front with me. I'll take the right, and you take the left."

Wanda nodded slowly. She was quite nervous that she was going to mess up and Nat was going to regret picking her for Team Winner.

"Have you ever played soccer before?" 

"Yes. When I was little." She remembers going out to play with her family for two on two soccer matches at the local park. She was always on a team with her mother, and Pietro would be with their father. Of course Pietro's team would win every time because he was so athletic, but they all ended up getting ice cream afterwards. 

Natasha patted her on the back. "Well, just do the best you can. Remember, this is just for fun." She smiled at both of them before running off towards her post. 

Wanda ran to the other side of the field and evened herself out with Natasha. She didn't really remember the rules of soccer, but she did know that the objective was to kick the ball in the goal. How hard could that be? 

Within the next minute, the other team was set up on the other side of the field. Steve was the goalie, Sam was set up in front of Natasha, and Vision was set up in front of Wanda.  _Oh great_. She was going to have to face off with the android who had a perfect body.  _Wait._ What the hell did she just think? No, no. He didn't have a perfect body, he was-. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Natasha shouting to her. When she looked up, she noticed Nat had the ball and was moving down the field rapidly.  _Crap._

Wanda ran down the field as fast as she could towards the goal. It wasn't long before Vision was by her side, trying to discourage Natasha from passing her the ball. "You are very fast, Wanda," he told her as they ran. 

"I try," she told him with a small smile before totally stopping, confusing the hell out of Vision. She ran around the other way so she would be closer to Natasha. Now she would at least have few seconds of being open so Nat could pass the ball to her. 

Natasha saw Wanda was wide open, so she took a chance and kicked it right to her. A perfect kick. "Shoot it!" She shouted at Wanda, slowing down so she was barely jogging. 

Wanda was right in front of the goal. She could do this. Instead of hesitating and being nervous, she decided to take the shot. But just as she kicked the ball, Vision jumped out in front of her, seemingly from out of nowhere. The ball hit him square in the nose and bounced off of him, hitting Wanda in the stomach. She stumbled backwards, but Vision didn't seem to be affected whatsoever. He only moved when he saw Wanda might be hurt. 

"Are you alright, Wanda?" His voice was filled with concern as he walked closer to her, scanning her for any damage the ball may have caused. 

The ball had knocked the wind right out of Wanda, but she recovered fast. She noticed Vision's large concern for her and decided to take advantage of it. She stood there, holding her stomach and staring at the ground, just waiting until he got close enough. As soon as he bent over to make sure she was ok, she ran around him, her feet quickly finding the ball and making her way towards the goal. "I'm fine!" She shouted over her shoulder as she kicked it right past Steve's arms and into the goal. 

From Team Winner's goal, Rhodey whooped and cheered, clapping his hands. "Hell yes! Go Wanda! In your face, Sam!" 

Sam frowned. "It's not over yet!" He shouted back to his friend. 

Wanda walked back up to Vision after a pat on the back from Natasha and saw he was smiling. "What?" She asked, "You didn't see that coming?" She knew those had been Pietro's last words, but for some reason, saying them didn't make her upset. She felt like she had used his memory in a good way, for once. Pietro would be proud, or at least she hoped he would be. 

"That was quite impressive," he told her. "I was worried you had been hurt." 

She shook her head. "I've experienced worse than getting hit by a soccer ball that bounced off someone's face." 

"Hey you two!" Steve shouted to them. "Get back in position, we have game to play!" 

Wanda waved to him before turning away and running back towards her position on the field. 

The rest of the game lasted about an hour before Steve got tired and decided to throw in the towel. He wasn't usually one for giving up, but they were getting their ass whooped so bad that he really had no choice. The final score ended up being 8 to 2, Nat's team winning by 6 points. It wasn't really fair in his opinion that his entire team was easily distracted; Vision by Wanda, and Sam by Rhodey's constant bragging. Natasha was able to slip past the defense almost every time, and he could never defend the goal very well against the highly trained super spy. It had been a pretty sad day for Team America. 

"You played very well, Wanda," Vision told her as everyone was walking back inside. "I had no idea you possessed such skill in this particular sport."

"Neither did I," she told him honestly. "I haven't played in years." 

He chuckled and looked down at her. "Next time though, I would prefer it if you were on my team." 

"I guess we will just have to wait and see, Vizh." 

Vision was a little confused by what she had just called him. "Vizh?" He asked, just to make sure he wasn't missing something. 

She nodded. "Yeah. Vizh is much easier to say than Vision."

"I did not believe my full name was such a burden to say." 

Wanda laughed a little. "It's not that, Vizh is just a nickname. Like everyone calls James, Rhodey. And some people call Steve, Cap." 

Vision nodded in understanding. He was still a little perplexed by the whole concept of nicknames, but he wasn't focused on that. Rather, he was focused on the fact that Wanda just laughed. This was the first time he had ever heard her laugh. Even if it was a small laugh, she still laughed. And he was the one that caused her to have this happy reaction. A smile appeared on his face and he sighed happily. 

Wanda looked up at him and furrowed her brows. "Why are you smiling?" He had that kind of smile on his face that Pietro use to have whenever a pretty girl would talk to him. Of course, that smile had only shown on Pietro's the first few times he had tried wooing a girl. After that, he realized he was a natural ladies man and would just have a cocky smile on his face when a girl spoke to him. 

Vision shrugged slightly. "I am happy, I suppose." He held the door back into the facility open for her and followed quickly after her when she walked in. 

Before Wanda could say anything, Sam punched Vision's arm. "Ah, so he does feel!" He joked. His hand was in a little pain from hitting Vision, but he did his best not to show it. 

"I have told you several times before that I am capable of feeling everything that a human can feel in the same capacity," he stated, his smile fading. 

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I never really listened to any of that science jibber-jabber you kept going on about. I was looking for proof, buddy." 

"Hey Sam!" Rhodey said, walking up to him. "Want to go play the X-Box before Natasha can get to it and kick our asses at Call of Duty again?" 

Sam nodded. "Dam right I do." He turned back to Vision and Wanda. "You're welcome to join us if you want."

Wanda quickly shook her head. "No thank you," she answered, no longer feeling like being social. 

Instead of waiting for Vision to answer, Sam just shrugged and took a few steps back. "Your loss, then. See you two later!" He turned and followed Rhodey out the door and headed towards the living room. 

Wanda hadn't even noticed that Steve and Nat were gone until Sam and Rhodey left. She looked up at Vision and saw he had a sad look on his face. She still wanted to just go to her room and sit by herself, but she would feel guilty if she didn't ask him what was wrong. "Are you ok?" 

Vision nodded and turned to face Wanda. "Yes, I am alright. I am just feeling something strange. I cannot quite put a finger on what it is." 

After restraining herself all day, Wanda finally allowed herself to take a peak into his head. She saw what had just happened with Sam replaying over and over in his head. The image lingered on the part where Sam didn't bother to wait for him to answer and just left. "You're feeling left out," she told him after a minute. 

"Yes, that is what it is. Is that normal?" 

"Absolutely," she said with a nod. Now she definitely couldn't leave him there to stand alone. But what would she do? Invite him to sit in her room with her? She didn't really want to do that. The purpose of being in her room was to be alone. But maybe, maybe if he was quiet he could stay. The sad look he had on his face was the thing that made her see what she had to do. "Do you know any good movies?" She asked abruptly, not entirely sure what to say. 

Vision was confused by her question, but of course, he had answer to it. "Well, of course. I know of all the good movies. The most recent one with the highest rating is-"

"No, no, Vizh. Have you ever seen any good movies?" 

He opened his mouth to say yes, but then realized he couldn't. He knew about every movie that ever existed, and how they ended, and how they were made, and how they were rated. But he couldn't actually say he has ever watched one himself. "No, I have not." 

"Would you like to watch one, then? There is a thing on the TV called On Demand that lets you buy movies for a few bucks and watch them." She couldn't believe she was doing this. But it would be a good way to keep her mind off of Pietro, as well as not let Vision feel left out. What could go wrong? 

He nodded. "I would be happy to watch a movie with you, Wanda." 

"Great, lets go pick one then." With a smile, she walked out of the room with him and towards her room so they could watch a movie together for the first time. 


	8. Memories

When Wanda turned her head to the right, her eyes were drawn to the glowing green numbers on her alarm clock. 6:45. On any other day, she would've been up and in the shower to prepare for training. But today wasn't any other day. Today, Steve, Natasha, and Sam had all gone out on a mission, which meant that training was cancelled. It was kind of a sudden thing that happened yesterday afternoon. She remembered overhearing them talking about a lead on finding someone named Bucky. Wanda had wanted to peak inside one of their heads and find out, but she was afraid that would disturb her mind's connection with Vision and she would be able to hear all their thoughts once again. 

Besides training being cancelled, this day was also the one month anniversary of Pietro's death. Well, she wouldn't really call it an anniversary. That word to her seemed to mean celebrating something happy, not remembering the event that tore her life apart. So instead, she opted to just say it has been one month since her beloved brother died.

She never expected that she would make it through one month without him, so the fact that she was alive and prospering on this day surprised her completely. She never really thought about what she would do on this day, or how she would act, but she felt like she had to do something to honor his memory. Unfortunetly, she couldn't just fly to the remains of Sokovia and weep over his handmade grave. Or wait- could she?

Wanda sat up and hopped off the bed, walking quickly over to the closet and grabbing her black dress and red leather jacket. Two weeks ago, she had flown for the first time. Since then, she hadn't really bothered to try flying again because the whole idea of it seemed pretty hopeless. She had only lifted herself about a foot off the ground, and just doing that drained her energy a lot more than she expected. If she couldn't go more than a foot without feeling like crap, there was no way that she was ever going to be able to fly to greater heights. 

But now that she had a reason to fly, and she felt a burst of confidence because of that reason. After slipping on her boots, she made her way to the kitchen to get some breakfast. She couldn't go to Sokovia on an empty stomach. Before she was even within 20 feet of the kitchen, she could smell something burning. She slowed her pace and peaked into the kitchen timidly, trying to see who it was before walking in. 

Wanda was filled with relief when she spotted Vision at the counter, fussing over something in a pan. She stepped in quietly and stood on her toes so she could look over his shoulder and try to see what he was making. 

A small smile made its way onto Vision's face when he felt Wanda's presence behind him. He was lucky their minds were connected, if not, he might've spun around and accidentally hit her with the spatula because she had been so quiet. "Good morning, Wanda," he said, keeping his eyes on the food he was making.

"Good isn't exactly the word I would use for this morning," she told him, taking a small step backwards. 

Vision turned off the stove and placed his spatula on the counter before turning around to face her. Everything about him was the same except for the fact that he had dabs of powder on his face and he was wearing a cooking apron that said '#1 Chef.' "And why is that?" 

Despite her unhappy state, Wanda couldn't help but to giggle when she saw the way Vision was dressed. Instead of answering his question and thinking about Pietro again, she decided to change the subject. "What are you wearing, Vizh?" 

Vision glanced down at his white apron, then back up at Wanda. "Is this not what people wear when they are cooking? I was told that it was customary for those using the stove to put on an apron, and this was the only one that I could find." Earlier this morning, he decided that he wanted to try cooking some real food for Wanda, rather than just putting waffles in the toaster. So he looked up some pictures of cooking people on google and found that most of them were wearing aprons with funny statements written across the chest. And every time he looked up pictures of food, there was always always one or more pictures of someone wearing an apron holding their food. Because of this, he thought it was just a normal thing that people do. 

She shook her head. "No, no. People only wear those when they are using a grill. And from what I can see," she peaked around him to look at what he was cooking again. "You are using the stove to make... pancakes?" Hopefully that is what he was making and she didn't have it totally wrong. Whatever he had in the pan looked like pancakes, except they were much much darker than what a usual pancake would be like. She had never tried a pancake herself, but Rhodey apparently made them every Friday morning and Sam would always rave about them in the beginning of training. Every time he did, he would pull out his phone and show everyone a picture of the pancakes that Rhodey made, then brag about how he got to eat them and they didn't. 

He turned around and looked at the charred discs of pancake mix in his pan. "Yes. These were meant to be pancakes. But it seems I am not very skilled at making them. These look nothing like the ones from the video by  _Allrecipes_ on YouTube." 

"That is because they are burnt, Vizh. I think you kept them in the pan too long." She walked up to his side and looked down at his pancakes. "Sorry, that's an under exaggeration. You put them in for a millennia too long." 

Vision turned and sighed. "I suppose you are right." He picked up the pan off the stove and walked over to the garbage can. After pressing down on the pedal in front of it, he dumped the burnt pancakes in and returned the pan to the stove. "Those were meant to be your breakfast," he admitted to her sadly.

"Don't worry about it. I can survive with a granola bar." She opened up the cabinet above her and pulled out a box of Special K raspberry granola bars that Sam purchased on his second week in the facility. "I was just on my way out anyway."  
  


"And where might you be going?" He asked while untying the apron from the back and lifting it over his head. "Captain Rogers has instructed us not to leave the facility while he is away." 

"I know what he said, but frankly, I don't care." She pulled a bar out of the box and shoved it back into the cabinet with all of the other healthy snacks. "He has no right to keep me here on this day." 

Vision blinked several times, trying to figure out what day it was that made Wanda so insistent on leaving the facility. It only took him a minute to realize that it was exactly one month since Pietro was killed by Ultron in Sokovia. Now he understood. "How exactly do you plan on leaving?" He asked, already taking a good guess as to where she would be headed. 

Wanda ripped open her granola bar and took a small bite off the top. "I'm going to fly," she said quietly, turning her gaze to the floor. 

His eyes widened. Fly? She hadn't flown in two weeks! And the last time she did fly, she hadn't lifted herself more than a foot off the ground. How exactly did she plan on flying all the way to Sokovia and back without any training in the matter? "Wanda, I do not think that is a good idea." 

"Why?" She snapped, suddenly feeling angry. "Because I am unstable? Because you think I will hurt someone?" 

Vision was surprised at her accusations, but he quickly shook his head, brushing off the hurt he felt. "No, of course not. You know I do not think that." 

When Wanda noticed the hurt in his eyes, she immediately regretted what she said. All Vision had done right from the beginning was support her, so why she would think that he would ever even accuse her of those things perplexed her. She wasn't thinking straight. Her grief for Pietro on this day was driving her thoughts and she wasn't considering the feelings of others.

A part of her wanted to apologize, but she couldn't pull herself to do so. She just wanted to leave this facility and go be close to her brother once more. "I-i know," she stuttered after a minute. 

"I just do not believe you have had enough practice in flight to get yourself there. The distance from this facility to the remains of Sokovia is approximately 5,369 miles, and you have not had experience in flying over one foot above the ground. Because of this, I don't think it's safe for you to attempt such a feat at this time." 

"Yeah? Well-" She stopped and looked out the window, wondering what she would say next. He was right, doing this wasn't safe at all. But she couldn't let it stop her from getting to where she needed to be. She had to try. "You can't stop me, Vizh. I'm going no matter what." 

Vision shook his head. "Of course I won't stop you. I want to help you." He smiled and took a step towards her. 

Wanda was surprised by Vision's response. She had sort of expected him to argue with her about safety and such, but she was glad that he hadn't. "Thank you," she finally said quietly. "But how exactly will you do that?" 

"I will fly you there. I am experienced in the art, and I can get there much faster than you will be able to." 

Wanda crossed her arms, she was a little offended by Vision's comment. "How do you know that you can fly faster than me? I haven't even flown at full speed yet." 

Vision picked up on her tone immediately, realizing he may have offended her. "I didn't mean- I mean I am-"

"I know what you meant, Vizh. Don't worry about it," she said while shaking her head.

"Oh," he said quietly. "I suppose we should get going, then?" 

She nodded. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea." She turned from him and walked out of the kitchen, sort of just expecting him to follow. Wanda had expected that by now she would've broken down in tears, but she had somehow been able to keep it all together. She was saving the breakdown for when she actually got to Pietro's burial site. But even then, Vision would be there. She wasn't sure if she wanted to cry in front of him- she wasn't sure if she could cry in front of him. 

Vision followed Wanda down the hall and outside into the large yard. He wanted to clean up the mess he made in the kitchen, but Wanda was much more important than that. It could wait. He followed her all the way to the center of the large yard before she stopped walking. He walked up to her side and looked down at her. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she answered quietly, not looking up at him, "I think so."

Vision turned to face her and put his hands gently on her shoulders. "Do you trust me?" 

Wanda gasped quietly when she felt him gripping her shoulders. But the question he posed to her surprised her even more. Did she trust him? She didn't see why she wouldn't. He did save her from Sokovia, even though she didn't want to be saved. He was also nothing but good to her. 

"It's alright," he said with a quiet sigh. "I suppose we don't yet know each other well enough for you to trust me." He trusted her, though. He trusted her a lot. "But even so, just hold on tight." He scooped her into his arms and held her close to him before pushing himself off the ground and taking off into the air. He wanted to take a peak inside her head to see what she was thinking about the whole trust issue, but he still felt that it would be an invasion of privacy. It was better to just leave it be for now, anyway, today was a day of mourning for Wanda, she probably didn't want to think about whether or not she trusted him. 

The feeling of being in his arms like this was all too familiar to Wanda. While they flew, she couldn't help but to recall the memories from that day; the day that ended her life. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that the images would leave her mind, but nothing came of her efforts. So instead of trying to push the memories from her mind, she decided to just look in Vision's. 

Like always, his mind was calm and quiet. The only images she saw there were ones of beauty and serenity. It was amazing how someone who wanted nothing but peace could be created by something that wanted nothing but war and destruction. Being in his mind calmed her tremendously, and the longer she stayed inside and looked around, the less she thought about Pietro. She didn't really need to look around his mind to find a quiet spot, the whole thing was quiet. She wondered how someone with so much knowledge could have such a peaceful and quiet mind. 

Wanda didn't even realize she had drifted off to sleep until Vision shook her shoulders a bit, waking her up. 

"We are just about here," he told her. She had slept the whole way there, which didn't surprise Vision. He knew she wasn't getting very much sleep in the first place, so she was probably exhausted all the time. 

She nodded and turned her head to see that they were approaching Sokovia. Seeing that big hole in the Earth made her feel like her heart was being ripped out of her chest. Tears began to sting her eyes and she looked back to Vision, hoping that seeing him and exploring his mind again would take away the pain. 

Vision landed only feet from the place where Pietro was buried. Everything was still just as they left it a month ago. The metal sheet Clint found in the Quinjet still stuck out of the ground behind the smoothed out mound of dirt. The words he engraved on it using the mind stone were still very distinct and readable. And the depressing and sad atmosphere that was there when Pietro was buried was still there now, but it was possibly even greater than it was then. 

He wished he could turn around and fly away from this place, taking Wanda somewhere else. He didn't want her to have to come face to face with the memories of Pietro that were constantly haunting her. Not to mention, they were also in the place that he died and their parents died. Hmm.. now that he thought about it, maybe burying Pietro here wasn't such a bright idea. But, Wanda seemed to be ok with it, and that is all he wanted. Reluctantly, he set her on the ground and took a step back, letting her decide what she wanted to do. 

After Wanda's feet once again touched the ground, she stood there, frozen. She stared ahead of her at the metal sheet that read,  _'Pietro Maximoff - Brother, Friend, Hero.'_ Being at this place hurt more than ever right at this moment. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she held them back. No, no. Pietro wouldn't want her to cry. She could hear his voice in her head, telling her not to cry- 

_Crying is for children, Wanda. And we were no longer children the day that shell hit our apartment. So, no crying. Understand? And besides, everything is going to be alright. I'm going to make sure of it._

How could he make sure of it now? He was gone. He was never coming back. He could never stop her from crying again. 

Tentatively, she walked towards the grave, stopping when she was only a few inches from the dirt mound. "Pietro," she said through a quiet sob, staring at his name on the sheet. Her vision began to blur as tears filled her eyes. At this point, there was really nothing she could do to stop them from spilling out and running down her cheeks. So instead of trying to hold it back, she tried to cover it up. She cupped her hands over her face and let it all out, almost completely forgetting that Vision was right behind her. 

Vision watched Wanda from a distance, wondering if he should do something to help her. He knew she had been holding in those tears for quite a while now, but he didn't know if he should say anything. He didn't want her to be embarrassed to cry around him. He would never judge her for it, not now, not ever. But just telling her that probably wouldn't convince her of it, so there was some way he had to show her. 

He slowly began taking steps towards her, only stopping when he was an inch behind her. He reached up and placed his hand on her shaking shoulder, hoping it would give her some sort of comfort. 

When Wanda felt Vision's hand, she froze; her crying stopped and her shoulders no longer shook. She lifted her head out of her hands and turned her gaze up to him. When their eyes met, she felt a strange sense of calm, even if only for a short moment. She could see sorrow in his eyes, sorrow and agony. He felt her pain, or at least he felt pain for her. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his chest, then proceeded to cry. He wasn't wearing actual clothes, so she wouldn't stain them or anything. 

Vision was startled by the gesture. He had half expected Wanda to swat his hand away when he laid it on her shoulder. It was, in a way, pleasing to see her reaction was not what he thought it would be. But now, he wasn't sure if he should reciprocate the gesture of a hug, or if he should just stand there and let her hug him. Before making any moves, he searched  _hug_ on the internet in his mind and discovered that all of the images related to the word involved two people hugging each other. Whenever he did stumble upon a picture of just one person doing the hugging, it always seemed awkward and uncomfortable. It was decided then, he would hug Wanda back. 

The two of them stood there in each others arms for at least a half hour before Wanda released him and took a step back. When she looked at him, her cheeks heated up with embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she mumbled quietly. 

Vision looked down at Wanda and shook his head. "There is nothing to apologize for." He could still see the pain in her eyes, which were red and puffy from all the crying. But, it was a significantly less amount of pain than he noticed before.

With a small nod, Wanda began to wander towards the edge of the forest, where the city of Sokovia once lie. She stopped when her toes were just peaking over the edge of the cliff. One more step and she would fall down into the hole, most likely never to come up. She would admit that she contemplated taking that step, ending it all with one motion, but something stopped her. And this time, it wasn't Pietro's voice in her head; it was a hand on her shoulder. 

She didn't need to turn to see that it was Vision again. She didn't need to look in his head to know he was trying to convince her not to take that step. Those things were more than obvious by the feel of his strong but gentle grip on her shoulder. So instead of stepping forward, she stepped back and lowered herself to the ground so she could sit. She moved her legs out from under her so they were hanging off the edge, swinging back and forth. 

"There was one month when Pietro would steal a basket of bread from the local bakery everyday," she said in a low voice, her eyes focused on where her home should be. "He would give one loaf to me, keep a half of one for himself, and give the rest of every other homeless person living on the street. And if there wasn't enough for someone one day, he would give up his own half for them."

While she spoke, Vision slowly sat down next to her, allowing his own feet to dangle off the edge. He didn't say a word, he just listened, allowing her to speak her mind. 

"He only stopped because the bakery burned down in a fire. The owner and his wife died in that fire." Her stoic expression transformed into a frown as she spoke about this part. "Pietro had been in the bakery when it started to burn. He was able to get their two children out and to safety. By the time he tried to go back for the parents, it was too late. He spent the next week angry at himself for failing." She could remember him with his knees to his chest, brooding about his failure to save the baker and his wife. He told her several times that he could've done it, that he could've saved them all. He said he was just too slow. 

 _"I still thought he was a hero,"_ she said to Vision telepathically, not wanting to hear the sound of her own slightly raspy voice any longer.  _"I remember when we were 13, and Pietro use to make bets and race other children. He always had a knack for running, it just came naturally to him. Because of this, he always won. Every time he would get a decent amount of money, he would take me to this little coffee shop on the corner and buy me something good. I always insisted he buy himself something, but he always refused and told me I needed to eat more than he did. He always put my life before his, always."_

A small laugh escaped her lips as she recalled another memory of her brother.  _"When we were 14, Pietro had a crush on this girl named Irina. She lived in a house nearby the park we lived in for a while. Pietro would steal flowers from her neighbor's garden and leave them at her doorstep. One day, when Pietro was placing the flower down, Irina's father opened the door and caught him. His father immediately recognized Pietro as one of the 'homeless bunch' and began to shoo him away. He ran, but when he turned back, he could see Irina laughing behind her father. They made eye contact and Pietro was convinced that it was true love. That night, Pietro ate something nasty and he got really sick._

_"It was a week before he could go see Irina again; he had told me he was going to ask her to go on a walk with him. When he knocked on the door, the person who opened it wasn't a part of Irina's family. The woman told him that Irina moved out two days earlier. So instead of just moving on, Pietro stole several flowers from the neighbor's garden and ran all the way to her new address, three miles away from there. When he got there, he told me that Irina's father was out on the front porch sweeping. He confessed his love of Irina to him and got himself beat with the broom he was sweeping with. The father threatened to call the cops so he had no choice but to leave. He never got the chance to see Irina again, but he did move on rather quickly."_

Vision chuckled quietly after Wanda finished telling him that story. Maybe she didn't even realize it, but she was really opening up to him at this moment. This was good, very good. He read online that opening up to someone while depressed was a good thing to do. She was making more progress, and he seemed to be helping her make it. The thought brought a smile to his face. 

_"After the bombings, Pietro and I were taken to an Orphanage. I remember it was grey, and old, and falling apart. The week we stayed there was the only time the two of us were ever separated. We escaped as soon as we got the chance to. Pietro promised me we would never go back to that place. He promised me that we would never be apart. He always said that we were all each other had now that mother and father were gone, and that we were going to have to have each other's backs if we wanted to survive. I promised that I would always be by his side, and he promised me the same. I never thought that..."_

She stopped speaking, choking on her own words even though she wasn't even saying them out loud. Good and bad memories of Pietro flashed in her mind, every one of them making her feel something different. But there was a feeling of pain under it all, a feeling that she knew would never fade. When she turned her head to look at Vision, she saw Pietro sitting at her side, smiling and staring out at the ghost of their city. But when she blinked, he was gone, and Vision was left sitting in his place. She turned her head back to look where he was and slowly leaned her head to the side, laying it on his shoulder. 

"I miss him," she told him out loud, tears threatening to spill from her eyes once again. 

Vision put an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He didn't realize until afterwards that the gesture might be inappropriate, but it seemed that she needed such affection right now. Still, he said nothing. He didn't need to say anything, he just needed to listen. He just needed to be there for her, and he would, he would be there until she didn't need him any longer; even if that meant being there until the end of her life. 

 


	9. Pain

The Avengers were in the middle of a training session when the alarm in the facility began to go off. All of the glowing white lights switched to red and began blinking rapidly, warning everyone in the building that there was some sort of emergency. Several agents who worked there dashed towards the hangar to prep a Quinjet for the Avengers while each team member rushed towards their individual rooms to get into their uniforms. This was the first real emergency alert that the new Avengers have had. Once a week, they did run a drill for such an occasion, just in case. But the whole thing still did come as a surprise to them. 

Less than five minutes after the alarm had started blaring, all 6 of the Avengers were packed into the Quinjet and ready to go. Natasha, in her traditional skin tight leather black suit, was in the pilots seat. Steve, in his red, white, and navy blue suit with a star in the center of his chest, sat down in the co-pilots seat. Rhodey, in his silver iron man armor, complete with a machine gun on the back of it, was standing in the back of the jet. Sam, in a new black, red, and grey outfit, was standing several feet from Rhodey with his wing pack already on. Vizh, standing cross armed in the right alcove of the jet, was wearing his usual synthetic suit and yellow cape. And finally, Wanda was sitting in the same alcove Vizh was standing in, all dressed in her red and black leather jacket, pants, and boots. 

In these suits, they were no longer just Steve, Natasha, Rhodey, Sam, Vizh, and Wanda. They were the Avengers. They were  _Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine, The Falcon,_  and _The Vision._

Wanda didn't realize it until right then, but she actually didn't have a hero name yet. She never really thought about it though because she didn't actually consider herself a hero. But then again, Vision didn't really have one either. His hero name was the same as his name except  _the_ was added in front of it. Unlike her, though, he was actually a hero; he deserved a hero name.

"Alright," the Captain started, turning around in his spinning co-pilots chair. "Here's what we got so far." He swiped his finger up on the screen of his tablet and the image he was looking at was transferred to a larger holographic screen in the center of the Quinjet. "That is Nixon Benoit, leader of a radical group of people who believe that what Ultron was trying to do was the right thing." The man on the screen was old, but not too old. He had thick greying stubble on his chin, and shoulder length messy hair. He was just one of those people who looked like they might murder you if you got on their bad side. 

Steve's words irked Wanda. The fact that there were people who thought Ultron was right in what he did made her blood boil. It probably wasn't a smart idea to bring her on this mission because she may or may not have an urge to put an end to their miserable lives. She knew that was wrong, but she couldn't help it. Ultron was the reason her brother was dead, and now there was more people like him who would end the world if they could. She wouldn't stand for it. 

"Benoit and his group of radicals have been terrorizing smaller cities in the US recently. The cops were usually there to stop them or at least slow them down, so they never really made any progress in the matter, that is, until this morning." He swiped the screen left and a picture of a bald man with grey eyes appeared. "Meet Tyrese Hadley, also known as  _Thunder._ Tyrese here is what some people call an Inhuman. Basically, they are just people who received powers or abilities of some sort during their life, but were not born with them.

"As for Tyrese's abilities, we believe he can cause earthquakes simply by stomping his foot on the ground. This morning, someone in their radical group hacked broadcasting networks and showed the world a video of Tyrese taking down an abandoned building without exerting any effort. After that, they showed a clip of Benoit and Tyrese standing in front of the White House, laughing hysterically.

"When the cops went to check out the scene, they were unable to find Tyrese or Benoit, but they did find a note that said _4:00._ Because of this note, police officials and detectives are guessing that the group is going to attack around 4 today. If they have Tyrese with them, and he is as powerful as he was in that video, then everyone in the White House could be in serious danger." He flicked the screen again, displaying a satellite image of the white house. 

Before he could start speaking again, Rhodey flipped up his mask so he could ask a question. "Has the President been moved off grounds to a safer location?"

The Captain shook his head. "The Secret Service has informed us that the President is in a safe room somewhere inside the White House. They have been advised not to exit the White House, as there may be snipers set up around the area." 

He nodded one and let his mask close over his face again, turning his attention to the image in front of them all. 

Cap stood from his chair and walked over to the hologram so he could point things out. "We are going to land the Quinjet right in the middle of the front courtyard. These people need to know that we are there. It might provoke them to attack earlier and that would be perfect. Then we will be there to stop them. Also, if we can, one of us might be able to escort the President into the Quinjet and get it as far away from the White House as possible." He pointed to right of the front yard near some trees. "Falcon, you will take this area." His finger moved to the other side. "Widow, you're taking this side of the yard." He moved to the front of the yard. "Vision you have the front." 

He turned around and looked at Rhodey and Wanda. "You two get the backyard. War Machine, you can carry Wanda over the White House and set her down on the right side. Then you are going to go take the left. I am going to be going inside and getting the President safely to the jet. If that is not possible, I will be guarding him until you guys can take out everyone outside." He clicked the button on the top of his tablet and it shut off, along with the hologram behind him. "You all will be working alongside several Secret Service agents, as well as the DCPD. Remember, their lives are just as important as anyone's lives in the White House. So, if they need help, provide it if you can." 

"How many people will we be going up against, Cap?" Falcon asked, crossing his arms. 

He sighed. "The DCPD estimates that there is going to be about 150-200 Ultron radicals attacking, plus Tyrese. It is also possible that there might be other Inhumans working with them, so you have to be aware of that."

All of the Avengers nodded and Cap walked back over to his seat. He buckled himself in and spun it back around so he was facing the front of the jet.

"We are about 20 minutes out," Widow told them all, looking over her shoulder at the other Avengers. "Get ready." 

Wanda looked up at Vision nervously and sighed. She really hoped all the training she had been doing was going to help her when they got there. This was her first time in a real fight since Sokovia. Since then, all she had done was rip apart dummies and have a bad experience in the simulator. So, she wasn't necessarily excited to be doing this. But there was no choice, she was an Avenger now. She had to do what she was told. 

"You can do this," her hallucination of Pietro said, appearing in the seat across from her. "I will be with you the whole time." 

Wanda frowned at him. Of course he would be, he was in her head. She couldn't say that of course, because everyone would think she was even crazier than they already thought she was. Hopefully though, because he was a manifestation of her imagination, he heard what she said inside his head. 

Pietro rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No, Wanda. In here." He pointed to his heart and smiled at her. "Always." With that word said, he disappeared into thin air, leaving Wanda with her mouth gaping open. 

"Wanda," Vision said quietly, placing a gentle hand on her back. "Are you alright?" He could tell by the expression on her face that something was bothering her, but he wasn't sure what. He could look into her head, but he still felt that would be rude. It was an invasion of privacy, so unless she invited him to look, he would not. 

Wanda was snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Vision. She nodded slowly and stood up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nervous," she whispered, not wanting anyone else to hear what she was saying. Luckily, they were all busy chatting, so they weren't paying attention to her and Vision.

 _"Don't be nervous,"_  he thought, then willed the thought into her mind. _"Just use what you learned in training, you will do great."_

She wasn't surprised at all by Vision speaking to her telepathically. Ever since their trip to Sokovia together, the two of them had been talking together in this way very often. _"How can I not be? I haven't fought since-"_ She stopped, not wanting to say it, even in her head.

 _"I know. But it's been a month and one week. You have made impressive progress, so I doubt anything will go wrong."_ He flashed her a reassuring smile. 

Wanda tried to find it in her to smile back, but she just couldn't. This was all happening too fast for her, and even with him at her side, she didn't think she could handle it all.  _"What if something does go wrong? What if I loose control? I don't want to hurt anyone."_

The smile on Vision's face faded when she suggested loosing control. He hated to even think about that being possible, but he knew it was. Wanda's abilities were very much connected to her emotions. So, if something triggered her to have a breakdown, she could very easilyhurt a lot of people she didn't want to hurt. Telling her that wouldn't help calm her mind, though. He was going to have to avoid the subject in some way so he wouldn't have to lie to her.  _"Do not think about that possibility, Wanda. You must focus on the task at hand. Just take out the enemy and we can go home."_

Wanda's eyes saddened as she gazed into his piercing blue ones.  _"I do not have a home."_

He wanted nothing more than to pull her into a hug and comfort her, but he knew that would be inappropriate considering the situation. Instead, he would just change the subject, hoping to get her mind off what he had just said.  _"Have you ever been to DC before, Wanda?"_

Wanda shook her head, but did not say anything back. She knew he changed the subject to try and make her feel better, but nothing could make her feel better now. She lowered herself back into her seat and turned her eyes to the floor. 

 _"It is too bad that both of our first experiences there will have to be in battle. Maybe one day we can return and see the city without the battle. Hmm?"_ He tried offering a reassuring smile, but alas, Wanda wasn't looking up at him. He sat down next to her and placed his hand on her back again. The small shock that was sent through his fingertips every time he made contact with her intrigued him. Maybe it was just because of her powers, but it certainly did feel good. One day he hoped to understand this strange sensation. He could ask her about it at some point, but not now. 

 _"Maybe."_ She turned her head a little so she was looking at his feet. She didn't ever see herself returning to this city after today. In fact, she didn't see herself leaving the facility other than for missions and to go visit her brother in Sokovia. There was no need other than that. 

"Wheels down in five people," Widow shouted, flipping one of the switches on the ceiling of the jet. "Get to the back and be prepared to run to your assigned areas." 

Vision stood once again and held out his hand to help Wanda stand up. He was glad when she took it, but he still saw sadness and fear in her eyes when they made eye contact once again. What could he say that would help now? 

Wanda released Vision's hand after she stood up and walked with him to the back of the jet where Falcon, War Machine, and Cap were all standing. As she stood near them, she remembered something else that might go wrong and quickly turned to Vision.  _"What if I loose my connection to your mind? I will be able to hear the Avenger's thoughts and all of the secret service and the police, and the bad guys... I won't be able to handle that."_

Vision's eyes widened when he heard her latest fear. That certainly would not be good if that happened.  _"I will make sure you are connected the entire time, Wanda. Just take deep breaths and try to stay calm. I can keep my connection to your mind, but if you loose focus, you may loose your connection to mine. That won't happen if you keep yourself in control, though."_

She nodded slowly and turned to look at the back hatch again. The jet jolted slightly as they hit the ground, and the back hatch opened, allowing light to pour in. 

"Good luck, Avengers!" Cap shouted before running out into the courtyard and towards the entrance of the building.

Wanda ran out after everyone except for Vision and Natasha. She was stunned when she saw the massive building standing before her, and all of the agents and police men surrounding it. This place was nothing like anything she had ever seen before. She would've stood there and stared at the White House for longer, but she felt a pair of metal arms around her waist and was suddenly lifted off the ground.

"Hold still," War Machine ordered, his voice sounding a little robotic through the suits microphone.

Wanda closed her eyes during the short flight, but opened them again as soon as her feet were once again firmly on the ground. Rhodey wished her good luck before flying off to his side of the courtyard. She watched him go, then glanced around her at the police men and secret service agents, all standing at the ready. Each of them was gripping a gun tightly in their hand, waiting for something to happen. Not one of them even gave her a second look, because they knew that if they looked away for even a moment, they might be caught off guard.

All was silent for about 30 minutes until an explosion came from one of the side yards. Every person's head turned to see trees lighting on fire and branches flying in all directions. The DCPD had been right, the Avengers arrival did provoke a reaction from the Ultron radicals. 

The men came flooding in from all sides, each of them being carried in army trucks and arms with large guns. Some of them stopped at the edge of each courtyard and set up even larger guns, most likely to be used for launching bombs. The others charged at the people defending the White House, guns blazing. 

Wanda used her red hex to create an energy forcefield in front of her so the bullets wouldn't hit her. She heard grunts from some of the agents around her, but wouldn't turn her head to see what she expected to see. Instead, she focused on the several men who were coming at her. She pushed the forcefield forwards, which knocked them backwards before it dissipated into thin air. With a flick of her wrist, the guns in their hands were surrounded by a red aura and ripped out of their hands. Now, unless they threw grenades at her or attacked her with their fists, they wouldn't be able to hurt her. 

She shot a hex at the three men in front of her, and prepared herself to do the same to the ones running up behind them. Two or three at a time she would take their guns and toss them into the water fountain about fifty feet behind her before shooting hexes at them and knocking them to the ground. They each took a while to get back up, but she always knocked them back down when they did. For some reason, the idea of knocking them out scared her. Just earlier, she had a desire to end each of their lives, but now that she had come face to face with these men, she couldn't do it. All of them reminded her of Pietro in the same way. Just like them, she and Pietro had worked for Ultron, hurting people in order to achieve his goal. And if his goal hadn't been to destroy the entire world, they probably would've continued to work for him and hurt people. They believed their cause was right, just like these people do right now. 

On the other side of the back courtyard, War Machine was easily taking out men one by one. He was able to kill them each in one shot with his repulsor beams, or a few shots from his machine gun. As a trained soldier, he knew what he had to do in order to get the job done, so taking lives had become much easier for him. Although, he still did feel a bit of remorse when the battle was all over and done with. But these people were not good people. If they wanted what Ultron wanted, then their goal was to destroy the entire world and get the human race to evolve. If just one of these men lived, they could start a new rebellion and get more people involved. So he knew what had to be done, they all had to go. It was just what had to happen.

In the front yard, Cap had successfully transferred the President from his hiding spot in the White House into the Quinjet. The Jet had long since taken off and gotten as far away from this place as possible. Now he was on his way around the back, going to help out Wanda and Rhodey. He figured that he might as well make it even; three in the back, three in the front. When he got in position, he was almost immediately shot at. He was quick enough to block the bullets with his shield, but it was a close call. He took steps towards the men shooting at him, holding his shield out in front of him until he got close enough to whack them with it. The force sent the men back several feet. After they were stumbling and no longer shooting, Cap ran at them and knocked them out with one swift punch. This wasn't too bad. They were just normal guys, obviously not highly trained in combat or with firearms.

The Black Widow found that these men were pretty easily taken down. She had fought worse in her lifetime. Just from the way they punched and held their guns, she could tell they were probably just regular people who volunteered for the cause. It was too bad they volunteered for a bad cause, because now they would never get out of here to live their normal lives. She ran at each of them shooting them down with her gun, tazing them with her Widow Bites, or knocking them out/killing them through hand-to-hand combat. Their aim was laughable, so she barely even had to try when it came to dodging bullets. So far, she hadn't seen any sign of the leader or the Inhuman, but she would keep an eye out. 

All Falcon really had to do was hover a little above the yard and shoot down at these men. Not only did he have a great view from up there, but not one of them could hit them with bullets. While up in the air, he noticed the shirts that each of the men were wearing. Some wore brown shirts with the words-  _The Avengers Have Poisoned the World_ written in black sharpie, while others wore shirts with the code name and real name of one of the Avengers.  _Wow,_ these guys had really gone all out for this. He assumed they had to try and make it painfully obvious that they were carrying out Ultron's idea of world purification, and that the Avengers were the reason the world was bad in the first place. 

It took little to no effort for Vision to take these men out. He couldn't be harmed by their bullets, so he could get as close to them as he wanted without fear of such. If he had known fighting men like these was going to be this easy, he might've advised Cap not to bring the police and secret service into this. Doing so would've saved a lot of lives. When he turned his head to the right, he could see the good men who he had been fighting side by side with only moments ago were lying dead on the ground. He felt an immediate sense of regret and pain when he laid eyes on these poor men. Men who probably had families and loved ones waiting for them back at home, who would now never get the chance to see these men again. And it was all because other men, other people who share the Earth with them, thought it would be ok to take other lives for their own nasty purposes. No matter what the purpose, taking lives is never ok. Never. And every time Vision did end the lives of one of those coming up against him, he felt sadness tug at his heart. He wished he didn't have to. He wished that there was some other way to end this madness. But it didn't seem that there was, or at least there wasn't one he could think of. 

Cap threw his shield at one of the men coming at him, knocking him to the ground. When his shield came back to him, he noticed the men who were previously firing at him had stopped. All of them had now moved to the side and were standing still. He lowered his shield, taking a small step forward, wondering what it was that caused the men to do this. Were they surrendering already? 

"Captain America," a voice said from the shadows of the trees ahead of him. "By the look on your face, I can tell that you think you have won. Well..." He took several steps forward and revealed himself to the captain. "I hate to tell you that you're wrong." 

It didn't take Cap long to realize that the smirking man standing before him was Nixon Benoit, the leader of this group. When the leader of such a group was confident enough to step out into the open and reveal himself, that meant he obviously didn't think of the Avengers and those helping were much of a threat. 

"Alright boys," Benoit said, raising his wrist to his mouth so he could speak into it. "Release the grenades." 

With those words, the remaining men surrounding the yard reached to the back of their belt and pulled out the grenades clipped to it. One by one, they all threw them at the Avengers, or at the building itself. The sudden explosions alerted everyone, causing them all to throw their arms over their heads and turn towards the building. 

One of the grenades landed a bit too close to Natasha and went off, blowing her back several feet. The clearing smoke revealed an unconscious Black Widow, with a burnt right leg and arm. 

Sam flew to her as fast as possible and lifted her off the ground. Even if she woke up, there was no way she was going to be able to fight again. He had to get her out of the area. This sucked, not only because poor Nat was injured, but also because she had taken out more men than he and Vision had combined. They lost a valuable player in this battle, but she would surely be back for the next. 

While Sam was flying out of the area, trying to get Nat to safety, one of the men fired at him and somehow hit him in the leg. It was a complete surprise to him because those dumb asses hadn't been able to hit him the entire time, but all of a sudden, while he is leaving, they just magically get their shit together and have perfect aim. The shot almost made him drop Nat and fall out of the air. Luckily, he had taken bullets before and knew how to handle this. He regained his composure quickly and flew even faster out of the area, getting himself and Nat away from the firefight. 

In the back of the building, one of the men had thrown a grenade at Wanda. She deflected it, but only enough to put it a few feet from her. She turned towards it so she could put an energy shield around it so the explosion wouldn't affect anything, and that is when she saw it. The one word written one the side of the grenade. The same word she saw when she and Pietro sat in the rubble for three days, waiting.  _Stark._

That one word sent her mind into a frenzy. Memories began to flash before her- memories she never wanted to think about again. 

_"It is going to be ok, Wanda. We are ok."_

_"Where did mama and papa go, Pietro? Are they ok?"_

_"I don't know. But Wanda, promise me you are going to stay with me no matter what."_

_"I promise, Pietro. I'll never leave you."_

_"And I won't ever leave you."_

She could see the bomb that lay in front of her and Pietro's faces all those years ago. She could see the gaping hole in the floor that their parents had been swallowed by. She could hear the screams and smell the smoke. It was that day all over again. That day 11 years ago. 

Wanda didn't know what made her do it, but she ripped that grenade apart. She ripped it apart and disintegrated its many pieces without even moving her hands. The images kept flashing in her mind. She kept seeing that moment over and over again. The was feeling the pain that she felt for those three days under the table with Pietro. There was no stopping it. 

Suddenly, she felt another pain in her side and she forced herself to look down and see what it was. There was a hole in her Avengers outfit- a hole that was quickly being surrounded by blood. She put her hand over the fresh injury and gasped at the pain. She had been shot, what was she going to do now? She fell to her knees and looked up at the scene around her, but everything was starting to get blurry. Spots of black began to cloud her vision and she could feel herself slipping out of consciousness. 

She felt the ground under her rumble and she could see the face of the man who Cap classified as Inhuman. Perfect timing. Now she wasn't even going to be able to help take him out. More black spots appeared in front of her as the sounds of the battle began to fade out. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the bright glow of the mind stone in front of her. 


	10. Welcome Distractions

_O, Reason not the need! Our basest beggars_

_Are in the poorest thing superfluous,_

_Allow not nature more than nature needs,_

_Man's life is cheap as-_

"Wanda?" A soft British voice near the door said, causing Wanda to look up from her copy of  _King Lear._ "May I come in?"

Wanda folded the page of her book and put it off to the side with a nod. "I don't see why not."

"How are you feeling?" He asked while walking over to the end of her bed, stopping nearly a foot from it. 

Wanda looked down at her side where, only a week ago, she had been shot. By now, the pain was nearly gone, but she was still forced to stay almost completely still until Doctor Cho told her otherwise. "Not too bad. I mean, I have had some pretty good company." 

Vision furrowed his brows. "Besides myself?" He was sure that he was the only one who had gone to check up on Wanda every day of the past week. 

She laughed a little and shook her head. "No Vizh, I was referring to you." The two of them were spending a good two-five hours a day together since she got shot. He was always offering some sort of distraction from the pain. This was immensely helpful, especially because whenever she was left alone, she would end up spending her time with "Pietro."

An unnoticeable sigh of relief escaped Vision when he heard her. "Good," he said with a small smile.

"So." Wanda pushed herself up so she was sitting up straight. She managed to not wince at the sharp pain in her side when she did so. "What are our plans for today? I found some interesting looking movies On Demand that you might enjoy." 

Suddenly, the thought that had been haunting Wanda all week resurfaced in her mind. _Was she too comfortable around Vision?_ She felt a mass of regret and guilt for being so almost cheery around him. It astounded her that she could somehow put on a facade of happiness during the day when she was around him. But around the others, she still felt a slight sense of awkwardness. She didn't belong with them, and she was ok with that. A part of her thought they probably were aware of that too, and they tried to hide it. That was nice of them to do, but they really didn't have to try and pretend she was an Avenger. She may have the title of Avenger, but she would never  _really_ be one. She would always be the Hydra volunteer who screwed with each of their minds and helped Ultron almost destroy the world. She could never be anything else but that.  _Why?_ Because that is what she last was when she was with Pietro. 

"That sounds very tempting, Wanda, but I cannot spend the day with you. Captain Rogers has required that I accompany him back to Washington to help with damage repair." 

Wanda almost frowned with disappointment, but stopped herself before she could. "Well I wish you good luck with that, then." She picked her book up once again and opened it back up to her marked page. 

_Man's life is cheap as beast's. Thou are a lady;_

_If only to go warm were-_

"I do wish that I could stay," Vision abruptly said, interrupting Wanda from her reading once again. "I have quite enjoyed the time I've spent with you." 

Wanda looked up at him again and managed a smile. She would be lying if she said she hadn't enjoyed it too. Spending time with Vision was a good distraction from Pietro. She was hesitant to admit it, but she couldn't lie to him. "I liked it too. Maybe when you get back, hm?" 

He nodded. "I do hope so." He could sense Wanda's hesitation when she answered. Was she not enjoying the time as much as he was? The thought of that made him sad, sadder than he would openly admit to being. When Wanda wasn't in mourning over Pietro, she was very joyful, very bright- surprisingly so for someone who had just lost their brother. He assumed it was because she wasn't thinking of Pietro while she was with him, but maybe she had been the whole time and was just faking her enjoyment. 

Wanda nervously rubbed the back of her neck and nodded. "See you later, Vizh." 

Vision smiled and turned from her, phasing through the door to leave. 

After she sensed Vision had gone far enough down the hall, Wanda closed her book and sighed. She dipped her head backwards and accidentally banged it against the headboard while doing so. "Ouch," she muttered under her breath.

"You should be happy, Wanda," Pietro said, suddenly appearing where Vision was standing only moments ago.

Wanda frowned at him and dropped _King Lear_ down next to her. "I'm not happy, Pietro. You know that. Life will never be the same without you." 

"Maybe it won't be the same, but that doesn't mean you can't be happy." He crossed his arms and appeared on her bed directly in front of her, earning himself a bit of a surprised reaction from Wanda.

Wanda looked away from him and towards the window next to her bed. "Just because I smile, doesn't mean I'm happy. It just means I've been temporarily distracted from the fact that your death left a huge hole in my heart." 

"Why don't you try filling that hole?" He suggested. 

She scoffed. "Yeah, sure. That's going to happen," she said sarcastically, "Just fill the hole, Wanda. It will be easy!" With a shake of her head, she turned back to him, her eyes flickering red. "Yeah right, Pietro." 

Pietro threw his hands up in defeat. "Hey, it wasn't my idea." 

Wanda's eyes widened. He was right, it was actually her idea. An laughable idea she had somewhere in the back of her mind. Why would she even put such an idea in her head? She knew she could never fill that hole Pietro left, it was too big. All she could do was put on a fake smile while she was around the other Avengers and pretend everything was alright. 

"Hey Wanda," Pietro said after appearing right next to the door. "You have a visitor." He disappeared just as the door opened. 

Sam Wilson pushed open the door to Wanda's room and poked his head in. "Hey there, Maximoff. How are you holdin' up?" 

Wanda's eyes widened. She wasn't expecting Sam to come visit, in fact, she didn't expect anyone except for Vision to ever actually enter her room. The feeling of comfortableness she had before with Vision and her "brother" suddenly faded when Sam walked in. With a shrug, she looked away from him, not really wanting to answer as nervousness washed over her. 

"Understandable. You got shot in a much worse spot than I did." He half smiled and took a weak step into her room. His left leg was bandaged in white wrappings still, and he was walking with a cane. He hated the cane, but Doctor Cho insisted he use it if he wanted to walk around. 

Wanda recalled Vision telling her something about Sam getting hit in the leg by a bullet. The battle took a bad turn after she passed out. She still wished she could've been up to help out. 

Sam's gaze turned to the corner of her room where two boxes sat one on top of the other. The corners of his mouth turned up when he noticed the top one was open. "Have you been reading those books I had Cap bring you?" 

She nodded and reached to her side so she could hold up  _King Lear_ and show him. "I have. They are very entertaining." 

He took another weak step into her room and looked around. "Good. It's about time someone put them to use." Slowly, he moved towards the bed and sat down at the end of it, turning his body awkwardly so he could look at Wanda. "Hope you don't mind, but the Doc said I'm not suppose to stand on this leg very long." 

Wanda did mind. She really didn't want him in her room very much, but it would be rude to turn him away. Eventually he would probably leave if she stayed quiet enough. 

"Those books belonged to a friend of mine." He looked at the boxes again. "Well, more than a friend actually. He was my wingman, on and off the battlefield." 

Her eyes widened when she realized who he was talking about. Sam's mind was loud, and before she blocked it out with Vision's help, she saw almost everything in it. Including, the tragedy that was his friend, Riley. 

Sam noticed Wanda had a reaction to that, so he decided to keep talking. It was a difficult topic for him, but he of all people knew that not talking about things like this only made it worse. "His name was Riley. Me and him, we were real close." He chuckled, "Man, that guy helped me get so many dates. They all ended pretty terribly, but still, he was a good guy." He looked down at his lap and closed his eyes momentarily, picturing Riley's smiling face in his mind. "It was a standard rescue OP, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before. Well, that is until an RPG knocked Riley's dumbass out of the sky."  
  


Wanda knew this story already, but hearing him talking about it only made it more depressing. Was he trying to help her or something? Because this wasn't helping, at all. 

"There was nothing I could do," he continued, "It was like I was up there just to watch." Sam sighed, then looked back up at Wanda. "I miss him everyday," he admitted. "But I try not to dwell on it. Doing that only makes it worse." 

"How can you not dwell on it?" She asked in an almost urgent way. She didn't mean her question to sound that way, but she had to know. 

Sam shrugged. "I distracted myself with other things; mostly helping other people with similar problems." 

A crease formed between her brows. "Other people who had lost friends?" 

"Some. But mostly people experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

Wanda frowned and looked away from him. So that's why he was here. He was going to try and be her psychiatrist. No, no, she didn't want that. She didn't need to talk to anyone. She could handle this herself. 

"Wanda," he said in a gentle voice, "What you experienced in DC was very common of PTSD patients. Also, the way you have nightmare-"

"How do you know I have nightmares?" 

"You scream in your sleep," he said simply. "Also, you tend to shake the building on occasion, and my room is right next to yours. So it sort of feels like I'm in an Earthquake." 

"Oh." She looked down at her lap. Was she really that bad? She knew she woke up screaming and crying on occasion, but she wasn't aware of how severe it actually was. The nightmares, she knew they were severe and never ending. But her reactions, she thought they were minimal. 

"Listen, it's nothing to be ashamed of, Wanda. I'm pretty sure everyone in the building has nightmares." He had to be careful how he spoke around her. He hadn't known Wanda very long, but he did know she was like a ticking time bomb. She could explode any second if someone said something that set her off. Sam had survived some bad things in his life, but he knew he could never survive an explosion from this little witch. 

Wanda shook her head and crossed her arms, feeling a slight pinch of pain in her side. "I don't want to talk about this with you," she grumbled quietly. "I don't want to talk about this with anyone." 

"You don't have to talk, you just have to listen." He gave her a serious look, waiting for her to acknowledge what he had said. 

She huffed and crossed her arms, not saying another word. How could she go from being super comfortable around Vision, to this? Maybe it was just because Sam was attempting to be her shrink again. But he knew full well she did not want anyone to sit down with her once or twice a week and ask her questions about her feelings. She wanted to be left alone, or _maybe_ alone with Vision. 

"I know you don't like me very much, or any of the other Avengers for that matter. But Wanda, we are your team, your family, we-"

"My only family was Pietro, and he is gone now. So do not act like you and the others can replace him. He can never be replaced." Her tone was harsh. There was no reason to be kind when saying words like that, she needed to get her point across.

Sam nodded. "I know, I know. But that's not what I'm trying to say. What I'm trying to say is that we are here for you if you need anything. We want to help you out as much as possible." 

In his moment of silence, Wanda took the chance to speak again. "I do not need help. I am perfectly fine." 

"You can keep telling yourself that, but you know you aren't. What happened to you is a big deal, and it's not just going to go away. Loosing your brother is something that may haunt you for the rest of your life if you let it. And I know that no one wants to be haunted by their past, no one. So you can keep putting on a fake smile and pretending that all is alright; then going back to your room and crying yourself to sleep, only to wake up to nightmares every night for the next few months. Or, you can talk to someone, let it out, speed up the healing process a bit." 

"No offense," she said, "But I do not want to talk to you. I'm sure you are great with other people, but I was not in a war, I am not a soldier." 

He sighed. "I understand that, Wanda. And I'm not saying you have to talk to me. What I'm saying though, is that you have to talk to someone. I don't care who. But it has to be a real person." 

Wanda's eyes widened. A real person? Was he referring to the fact that she talked to an imaginary Pietro? Did he know about that? How could he? Her breath quickened as the questions began to whiz through her mind.  _Worry. Fear. Embarrassment._ _Sadness._ She wasn't sure what she was feeling right now, but she did know it wasn't good. 

Sam saw her beginning to hyperventilate and he quickly moved to put a hand over hers. "Breath," he told her. "It's ok. I've been through what you're going through now, Wanda. I understand." 

Her eyes darted up to meet his. "Did you see him after he died? Did you see Riley?" 

"I did. Almost all of my friends had his head for a few weeks after I lost him. He was everywhere, I didn't think I could escape." 

Wanda's breathing slowed as she listened to him, now beginning to take a slight interest in what he was saying. "Did- did you speak with him?"

Sam shook his head. "I didn't, but trust me, I tried." 

"How did you get rid of him? How did you get him out of your head?" Wanda was eager to know, although, if she was able to get rid of Pietro, she might not. It was weird; she hated that she was seeing him all the time, but she also loved it. It almost felt like she had him back, and if he disappeared altogether, she might loose herself again. 

"I didn't. My friends did." 

Wanda looked at him, confused. How could his friends get this image of his dead wingman out of his head? She didn't believe that was how this worked. 

Sam knew by the look on her face that he was going to have to explain further, but he didn't mind. This was progress, even if Wanda wouldn't admit to it. "They didn't take Riley out of my head directly. They just-" He stopped, trying to find the right words. "Distracted me enough so I could move Riley to my heart. He is still with me, just not in here." He tapped the side of his head and gave Wanda a half-hearted smile. "But in here." His finger moved down to his chest and over his heart, tapping it twice. 

She immediately remembered her image of Pietro doing the same thing on the Quinjet before the battle in DC. What a strange coincidence... 

"If my friends hadn't been around so much after that, I wouldn't have been able to move on." 

"Did you feel bad for moving on? Did you feel bad for forgetting about Riley?" 

Sam shook his head. "I didn't forget about him, Wanda. I could never forget about him. I just started celebrating his life rather than mourning it. Of course when I think about his death I still get upset, but I am now able to think about the good things that happened while he was still alive." A warm smile spread on his face. "Don't tell Cap this, but I still do get a little choked up thinking about him every once in a while. And that's ok, 'cause I know Riley is looking down at me and laughing his ass off."

Wanda was surprised by Sam's words, all of them. He was telling her that it was ok to move on, but she still felt like she would be betraying Pietro if she tried. Pietro was everything to her; he was her heart, her other lung, her support, her anchor. She couldn't just move on from him. 

"Everyone is able to do this at different paces," he told her after a minute of silence. "And because your loss was so great, I'm not expecting your mourning period to go anywhere very fast. But I'm saying that you should start accepting that at some point you are going to have to take the memory of your brother and move him to your heart. I never met him, but I bet he would want you to do that. He would want you to stop thinking about him so much so you could be happy again." 

"B-but, I do not want to live without him." She could feel tears were beginning to form in her eyes. She didn't want to cry, not in front of Sam, but she felt like it was inevitable. How could this be inevitable? She barely even talked about Pietro with Sam, yet she knew he had been referring indirectly to her brother the whole time.

"And you don't have to." He tapped his heart again. "Pietro will always be right here, right where you need him to be."

Wanda looked down at her lap again and wiped a warm tear off her cheek. But how could he be in her heart if she felt like she no longer had one? She had so many questions, so many questions she needed answered, but she refused to ask. 

Sam stood, thinking that this was a good place to stop for the day. "I think the first step," he said while backing towards the door, "Is finding a distraction. Just something or someone that will help ease the pain." 

Wanda looked up at him again. A distraction, huh? Now where would she find one of them?

"Have a good day, Wanda. And remember, if you ever need anything, my door is always open." He smiled and limped out of the room and down the hall. 

Pietro had been her distraction when their parents died. He was always there to lean on and rely on for support. But now that Pietro was gone, who could she find that would do the same thing? 

She wanted to ponder the question longer, but only found herself beginning to get a headache as she thought about it. She decided to push the decision making off until later and just read her book for now. She reopened her book and continued where she left off. 

_If only to go warm were gorgeous,_

_Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,_

_Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true-_

Then it hit her. She looked up at the wall in front of her and imagined _him_ standing there with a half smile, saying how he had enjoyed his time with her. She could hear _his_ soft British accent in her head, telling her that he wanted to spend time with her. She could see  _his_ billowing yellow cape and his mesmerizing blue eyes when he walked into the room.  _  
_

_Vision._

Vision would be her distraction. 

And a welcome distraction he was indeed. 


	11. Starry Night

_"Hey Wanda!" Pietro shouted gesturing for his sister to walk closer to him. "Come check this out!"_

_Wanda slowly made her way towards her smiling brother. "What's going on, Pietro?"_

_Pietro pointed forwards at an old, run-down apartment building. "Look on the third floor. The light is on! Mama and Papa must be home!"_

_A smile broke out on Wanda's face and she quickly grabbed her brother's wrist. "Well come on then, Pietro! We must go see them!" She began to run forward, dragging Pietro behind her._

_The two of them entered the apartment building to find that the lobby was entirely empty. And it was completely silent aside from the buzz of electricity coming from the only light in the room. The twins made their way slowly to the stairwell on the right side of the building and began to walk up the three flights of stairs required to get to their floor. They walked hand in hand as they approached the door that read 'P_ _odlažie Tri_ ''  _(Floor Three)._

_Pietro pushed open the door and stepped into the empty hallway. The noise of each footstep he took seemed to echo off the walls it was so quiet._

_Wanda decided to break the veil of silence that had fallen over the two of them when they entered the building. "Room 32, Pietro. Remember?" She squeezed his hand and took a step in front of him, leading him to the room she had been referring to. She didn't hesitate to knock on the door once they were standing in front of it. With the force of her knock, the door opened slightly and a dim stream of light from inside came pouring out._

_Pietro pushed the door open the rest of the way and led Wanda into their home. The first room they entered was the kitchen, which was empty. The only light from the room was from several candles placed on the counter and table. Other than that, the room was empty and silent._

_As they walked further into the apartment, they began to hear soft music playing from their parents bedroom. Wanda recognized immediately that the music was coming from the old record player that Papa got from his mother. The song playing was an old Sokovian lullaby, one that neither of the twins had heard in a long time._

_"Mama always hated that song," Pietro whispered as they walked towards their parent's room._

_All Wanda could do was nod. She couldn't seem to find her voice in order to answer him._

_When they made it to the closed door of their destination, Pietro turned the handle and pushed it open._

_As soon as Wanda had a view into the lighted room, she screamed loudly and turned to her brother. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that she could forget what she just saw._

_Pietro didn't question Wanda's reaction to what was in the bedroom. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, trying to hide his own fear and astonishment._

_On the bed in front of them, Marya and Django Maximoff were lying dead. Their cheeks were hollow and their skin was beginning to turn an eerie shade of grey. Hair was falling out of their heads and onto the pillows underneath them. The sight was enough to make any child have nightmares for the rest of their lives._

_Wanda squeezed Pietro tighter and tears began to fall down her cheeks. "Pietro," she cried,"What happened to Mama and Papa? What happened to them?"_

_"I do not know," he told her, his voice shaky. He looked down at her and closed his eyes, wishing they had never gone in the building._

_Wanda held Pietro tightly until she heard gunshots outside and Pietro suddenly disappeared from her arms. She looked up and found that she was now standing alone at the door of her parent's bedroom. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that there was now someone lying in between the bodies of her dead parents. It was none other than Pietro Maximoff, whose body was peppered in bloody bullet holes._

_She young girl dropped to her knees and screamed. As she screamed, the whole apartment building around her tumbled down, and she was soon surrounded by a cloud of dust._

And that was when she woke up. 

When Wanda's eyes opened, she discovered that she was sweating, crying, and shaking. The sheets and pillows from her bed were scattered on the floor; the desk chair and lamp from her nightstand were both smashed to pieces; the bathroom door was hanging from its hinges; the window was smashed and not one piece of glass was left in its frame. She had caused destruction to her room before, but never this much. 

She swung her legs off the edge of the bed and lowered herself to the floor. As she made her way to the bathroom, she was careful not to step on any shards of glass that may be lying around. In the bathroom, she met her reflection in the mirror and stopped moving. Her whole face was red, her eyes were swollen, and her hair was an absolute disaster. 

With a sigh, she turned on the faucet and splashed some cool water in her face. "Deep breaths," she told herself, "It was just a nightmare." 

But it wasn't  _just_ a nightmare. It was real, or at least the parts she feared the most were real. 

Her mother was _dead_.

Her father was _dead_.

Her brother was _dead_. 

She was alone, just like she had been in the dream. 

After taking several more breaths to calm herself down, Wanda walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. 

"This is quite a mess you made here," 'Pietro' said, sitting down at the end of her bed. 

Wanda frowned. "I am not in the mood right now. I don't need someone who is not really here harassing me about what I already know." 

Pietro stood and walked over to her. "Oh please, don't lie to yourself. You need me, that's why I'm here." He crossed his arms and grinned his famous 'I was right and you were wrong' grin. 

With a sigh, Wanda walked past him and sat down in the spot he had been sitting in before. "Ok fine, what do I do then?" 

"Oh that's easy!" He said, turning around. "Distract yourself! Judging by past events, you probably won't be able to fall asleep again after that disaster, so you will just sit in your bed, lying awake. And because of the mess surrounding you, you are going to spend all that time beating yourself up over it. You will probably cry again, and maybe even make yourself sick. So you need a distraction." 

When Pietro said the word 'distraction,' she immediately thought of Vision. Just last week, she decided he was going to be her distraction to get away from her own thoughts. But it was three in the morning, he wouldn't want to sit and talk with her. And she really didn't want to disturb him at this time. She knew he didn't sleep, but he could be doing something important. So basically, Vision as a distraction was out of the question.

"What kind of distraction?" She asked after a silent moment.

Pietro shrugged. "I don't know. Just get out of this damned room. You need some air." 

At that, Wanda stood and walked over to her closet. She slid open the door and pulled out her classic black boots, aka, the only shoes she ever wore. Without saying anything to Pietro, she exited the room, leaving it exactly the way it was. Guilt tugged at her heart for not saying goodbye to her not real brother, but she knew she was going to have to let go of him soon, so she was practicing. It hurt, but it was what had to be done. 

She walked through the winding halls of the facility, trying to decide where she could go to escape for a little while. It wasn't until she saw a red door with white writing on it that read, 'Roof,' did she come up with an idea. She pulled open the door, which was surprisingly heavy, and found a staircase that seemed to go up for about three or four flights. The sight of it reminded her of the staircase she and Pietro climbed up in her dream from before. 

In order to force herself to climb up the stairs, she had to force the thoughts out of her head. One she finally took her first step up, she didn't stop walking until she reached the 'EXIT' door. This door was much heavier than the one at the bottom of the staircase, but that didn't stop her from opening it and walking out onto the roof. 

The cool breeze was a shock to the exposed skin on her arms and legs. She had sort of expected it to be a little warmer when she decided to go up there. But she would survive. In Sokovia, she and Pietro endured much colder conditions with much less clothing. 

"Wanda? What are you doing up here?" 

The British male's voice startled Wanda, and she turned her head quickly to discover Vision floating near the edge of the roof. What the hell was he doing up here? Shouldn't he be inside? But then again.. shouldn't she be inside? "I don't know," she answered honestly. "I just needed some fresh air." 

Vision moved towards her, shiny yellow cape fluttering behind him. "Are you alright?" 

Even in the moonlight, Wanda could see the genuine concern etched in his features. His features which looked... really nice in the moonlight shining down on them. She blinked several times, trying to ignore whatever she just thought and nodded. "Oh yes, I am fine. Like I said, I just needed some air." 

He sighed quietly and nodded, deciding it would be best not to push her. If she did not want to talk about this, she did not have to. He didn't mind entirely, he just wanted to be sure she was ok. 

"What are you doing out here?" Wanda asked after a few silent moments with him on the roof. Changing the topic of their conversation was her only defense at this point. 

Vision looked upwards at the glittering sky above them. "I am counting the stars. There are so many of them, and they seem to go on forever. It is quite entertaining." 

Wanda laughed a little. "Counting? Entertaining?" She shook her head and looked up at the stars. "The stars aren't meant for counting, Vizh. Or at least, I do not believe they were." 

"Then what are they meant for?" He lowered himself to the ground and stepped towards her, the concern on his face changed to curiosity. 

"My Mama use to tell me they are meant for wishing on." She turned her gaze back to him, then walked forward and around him so she could get to the edge of the building. 

Vision turned and followed her. "Wishing on? I do not follow. Wishes cannot come true, so what is the point of wishing?" 

Wanda frowned slightly and sat down, dangling her legs off the edge. She had to think about how to answer that question for a bit. What was the point of wishing? She of all people knew that wishes never came true, no matter how hard you wished. It was impossible. But for some reason, she still did it, she still wished on falling stars and threw coins into wishing wells. Or at least she did before Pietro died. "I-i think the point of wishing is to provide hope." 

"Hope is a feeling of expectation and a desire for something to happen, yes?" He hesitantly sat down next to her, still not entirely sure if she wanted him there. 

"I know the definition of hope, Vizh, everyone does. But you cannot classify hope by what the dictionary says." 

A crease formed in between Vision's brows as a result of his confusion. "You cannot? Why is that?"

Wanda looked over at him and tilted her head sideways a bit. "Because the feeling of hope is more than just words on a page. It is the thing that drives people to keep living, to keep fighting. It gives people a sense of purpose in life and makes them want to hold onto it. And making a wish on a star gives you hope that whatever you wished for might just come true."

"But it will not?" 

She frowned and shook her head. "It won't. But you're missing the point of it, Vizh. It's the hope that makes a wish worth wishing for, not whether or not it comes true."

Vision didn't speak for a while after that. He was going through the times he has possibly felt this hope in his short life. Maybe when he was born and first laid eyes on the humans among him? Maybe when he fought alongside the Avengers and saw them work as a team? Maybe when he watched his teammates laugh and make jokes? Maybe when he saw Wanda smile for the firt time? There were so many times he may have felt hope. He didn't realize it until then, but hope was good, it was very good. He liked the feeling of it, the way it made him think everything was going to be alright. Feeling hope made him feel a little bit less android, and a little bit more human.

"Do you make wishes?" He asked, breaking the silence. His gaze had once again turned towards the stars, except he wasn't counting them this time. 

"I use to," she said quietly. "Pietro and I would lay on a grassy field and look up at the stars, both of us silently wishing that our lives would straighten out for once. I use to wish that my parents would come back to life, or that Pietro and I would run into some money and no longer have to suffer. I would wish that I could help more people and make everyone live great lives. And I would wish that I could stay with Pietro forever and that nothing would ever happen to either of us." 

But those were just the hopeful wishes. There were dark ones too. She would wish ill upon Tony Stark and anyone who worked with him. She would wish that the president of Sokovia would die off so someone else could take his place. She would wish that those boys from the playground who tried looking up her skirt and punched Pietro would break their legs. She wished the shop of the man who almost threw Pietro in jail would burn down. 

She did not like to think about those wishes, though. They brought only sad feelings over her. It was the dark wishes like those that got her and Pietro into volunteering for Hydra in the first place. If she and him didn't both want horrible things like that to happen, they might've just lived their lives on the street like normal hobos and never gone near that horrible organization. 

Vision could tell Wanda was thinking about dark things without even having to look into her head. He placed a hand on her shoulder, grabbing her attention away from whatever she was thinking and causing her to turn her head towards him. "You should wish again," he told her.

Wanda scoffed and shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"And why not? You said wishing makes you feel hope, and hope is good. Do you not want to feel hope again?" 

She frowned. "I just don't want to be disappointed when I discover that the hope I feel now is not nearly as joyful as it was before." 

"What makes you say it won't be?" 

Wanda was surprised by his questions. Only a few minutes earlier, he didn't even really know what hope was, and now he was trying to convince her to find it again. Amazing, he was amazing. "Because-" she stopped, trying to find the right way to phrase her answer. "The only thing I could wish for is to have my brother back. And I know that is not going to happen. So I will feel no hope when I make that wish." 

Vision frowned, refusing to believe that Wanda could never feel hope again. She needed to feel hope again. Because like she said before, hope is what drives people forward. So maybe feeling hope would help her move forward and away from Pietro. "What if you wished for something else?"

"What else is there to wish for? The only thing I want is my brother to be back at my side." 

"What about hope? What if you wished for hope again?" In his opinion, his suggestion was a pretty good one. If Wanda needed to feel hope, and couldn't get that feeling from her other wishes, maybe she should just wish for the feeling itself. 

Wanda looked at him, her lips parted slightly in surprise. "I don't know if that would work." But it might, she just didn't want to admit it.

"You could try." He offered her a smile and removed his hand from her shoulder. He placed it back on the ground next to him. He didn't realize that it was so close to Wanda's own hand until he felt her pinky brush up against his. The sensation only made the smile on his face grow. 

Wanda tried to ignore how close their hands were now, even though the thought and the feeling were sort of bothering her. In a good way, though. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked up at the stars again. It could be worth a shot. Who knew, maybe she would actually feel hope again. 

Vision watched Wanda look up at the sky and close her eyes. She was _beautiful._ Wait, what? No. He meant what he thought, no buts. She was beautiful, especially right now. He remembered one of the movies he watched with her last week, specifically the part where the man and woman held hands. Since then, he had longed for that sensation, the sensation of holding another's hand. He hadn't believed there would ever be an occasion where he got to experience it himself until right then on the roof with Wanda. Without thinking, he moved his hand over an inch or two and placed it on top of hers. Slowly he adjusted the position of her small hand so he was holding it, just like the actor and actress on screen. 

Wanda's eyes snapped open when she felt Vision holding her hand. She looked at him, a mix of surprise and disbelief on her face. These feelings didn't come upon her just because he was holding her hand, although that was part of the reason. The other reason was because when he took hold of her hand in his, she felt  _it._

She felt _hope._


	12. Overcoming Obstacles

"Ready- Set- Go!" Natasha shouted to the new recruits who were all standing in a line at one side of the training room. 

Ahead of the recruits was an obstacle course. A course that, for some reason, Sam kept comparing it to something you would see on American Ninja Warrior. Although, it wasn't nearly as tricky or long as one of those courses. 

The course began with a rope ladder that one would have to climb up and then climb back down the other side. The next thing that the recruits would run into was two rows of tires that they had to run through. After that was a set of monkey bars that everyone would have to hang from and move forward. Next was a tight rope. It was a thick tight rope, considering everyone here most likely had no idea how to walk a thin one. So Natasha and Steve decided to make it easier for them. The final piece of the course was by far the hardest part. Basically, it was a tall rectangular box without one of the sides. A recruit would have to mount both of their feet on the left and right and slowly scooch themselves up to the top. Once they were at the top, they would jump to a red platform about two feet away and press a button to stop the timer. Whoever completed the course first didn't have to attend training the next day. 

"Remember, no powers allowed!" Steve added only a moment after Natasha told everyone to go. 

The first one to the rope ladder was Vision. His perfectly built body gave him a distinct advantage over everyone else. He was able to climb to the top with ease, but Sam and Rhodey were both only a few feet behind him. 

Wanda, on the other hand, considering her lack of military training and an imperfect human body, was behind them all. So unless she had the option to use her abilities, she knew wouldn't be able to beat any of them. 

"I know I won't beat the robot, but I will certainly beat you!" Sam told Rhodey as the two of them climbed down the rope ladder, practically in unison. 

Rhodey scoffed. "I'd like to see you try." With a smirked, he released his grip on the ropes and landed backwards about a foot away from the ladder. He turned quickly and began to run towards the tires. This was something he had already done over a hundred times in his life, so getting through it would be a breeze. 

Sam followed suit with Rhodey and released the ropes, jumping off and turning around as fast as possible. He was only two tires behind Rhodey at this point. 

Vision was already halfway past the monkey bars and hadn't even broken a sweat. Although, he would argue that it wasn't even physically possible for him to sweat. That was never enough for Rhodey and Sam, though. 

Wanda make it off the rope ladder just as Rhodey and Sam were finishing up the tires. Seeing that she had even less of a chance at winning now, she rolled her eyes. What was the point in even continuing? She was going to end up going to training tomorrow whether she finished the course or not. And it would probably be a lot less embarrassing for her if she just stopped right now and walked away.

"Come on, Maximoff!" Nat yelled, walking closer to the course. "Pick up the pace!" 

Wanda frowned and tried to pick up speed while going through the tires, but that only resulted in her tripping and falling on her face. 

"Don't give up! Come on, I know you can do this!" 

She groaned and pushed herself up. Slowly, she continued making her way through the tires and to the monkey bars. Once she got there, Sam was practically finished with them and Rhodey was already on the tight rope. She jumped up and grabbed onto the first one. Already, she was tired and ready to give up. By the time she got to the fifth one, her arms were beginning to become really shaky and she could feel her grip slipping more and more each second. 

"If you let go, I know you won't get up," Pietro said, appearing next to the bars where Wanda was hanging. 

After more than a few days with no sign of her brother's image from her imagination, seeing him now startled her. She gasped quietly and accidentally let go of the bars, landing on her butt when she hit the ground. 

"Get up, Wanda! You have to keep going!" 

Wanda was on the verge of literally killing Nat if she continued to nag her. She knew the spy was only trying to be encouraging, but it wasn't helping at all. In fact, it was probably hindering her performance. 

"Wanda don't- Hey Vision, what the hell are you doing?" 

When Wanda looked up to see why Nat stopped talking to her and addressed Vision, she saw he was flying back around the course towards the monkey bars where she was. "Vizh, what are yo-"

Before she could finish her question, Vision had put his hands underneath her arms and lifted her to her feet. "Come along, Wanda. I'm going to help you finish this course." 

She stood there for a second, mouth gaping open in awe. Why? He was going to win. He didn't need to come back and help her. She didn't ask him for any help, she didn't need it. "Vizh I don't need help. I'm fine."

He shook his head. "I know you are fine, but I want to help." He put his hands on her waist and lifted her up again so she could reach the monkey bars. "I'll be right behind you." 

Wanda was completely confused as to what was going on. Should she go? Should she let herself drop again and quit the course? Helping someone else was illegal wasn't it? Then why the hell wasn't anyone saying anything? 

She looked over to Nat and Steve, wondering whether or not they were even watching what Vision was doing anymore. To her surprise, they weren't watching anything on the course at all. They had their backs turned to the new recruits, and they were talking to two people who Wanda hadn't seen in two months. Tony Stark and Clint Barton. 

Vision noticed Wanda's pace had slowed when she looked over to her left, so he decided to do the same and see what was distracting her. That's when he saw Mr. Stark and Mr. Barton both smiling and laughing in the midst of a conversation with the Captain and Miss. Romanoff. No wonder Wanda was so distracted, she had somewhat of a hatred towards both of them. But mostly towards Tony, of course. "Don't mind them, Wanda. Just keep going." 

Instead of arguing, Wanda decided to listen. She was going to keep going, and she was going to try and win so she would be able to get out of the same room with Tony. Just being within fifty feet of him made her blood boil. The last time she saw him, she was extremely upset, so she didn't really have the extra energy to be pissed off at him. But now, she had most of her usual strength and energy back, so that meant she also had her temper back. That was bad news for Stark if he decided he was going to stick around.

"Wanda, you have a chance to catch up, Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Wilson are both stuck on the rope," Vision told her, pulling her out of her thoughts as she reached the end of the monkey bars. 

"Get out of my way, Rhodey! That free day is mine!" Sam shouted bouncing up and down on the rope a little to make his companion fall off. 

Rhodey stumbled, for what seemed like the millionth time, and fell. But once he was on the ground, he kicked the rope, causing Rhodey to fall right next to him. He snickered at his friend, then got back up and attempted to get back on the rope.

Sam, craving revenge, decided he wasn't going to let Rhodey get back up, so he decided to blatantly pull him back down and begin a sparring match with him.

"That's cheating!" Rhodey shouted.

"No it's not!" Sam said back, throwing a punch at Rhodey. 

Both men were too busy arguing with each other to notice that Wanda was already a quarter of the way done with the rope. What Wanda didn't have in strength and speed, she made up for in balance. She was much smaller and lighter than everyone else, so this was the only place she had an advantage. But it was also the place that would probably allow her to win if she got past it before Rhodey and Sam. And by the looks of it, she was going to. 

Vision didn't even need to say anything to Wanda as she walked the tightrope. She could obviously do that all on her own. He was quite amazed by her skills on it, actually. She was so graceful, even at such a difficult task. 

Wanda finished the rope with much ease, but now she was up for her most difficult challenge, the vertical climb. Like she had displayed so many times before, her strength was minimal, so this was going to be extremely hard to do. But maybe Vision could guide her, he always knew the best strategies for everything. "Vizh," she whispered, not wanting to alert Sam and Rhodey in their struggle to get on the rope before one another. "How do I do this?"

Vision examined the structure and Wanda's body, trying to figure out what a good approach for her would be. "You will need to use your legs and your arms, Wanda. It is thin enough for you to reach both sides of the wall with your hands so you can balance yourself as you move up with your legs. The climb isn't too long, though, so you shouldn't struggle too much." He hoped she didn't struggle, at least, he didn't want to see her struggle. 

Wanda nodded and positioned herself in between the two walls. With one hop, she put her feet on either side and pressed her hands flat against the wall above each of them. Dam, it was hard to even keep herself up like that. Why did Vision have to make it sound so easy? 

_I know you can do it, Wanda,_ Vision said to her telepathically.  _But if for some reason you do fall, which you shouldn't, I promise I will catch you._ He flashed her an encouraging smile, and she responded with a small smile back.   


Then, she looked up, and took her next hop, just barely catching herself on the walls. Only three or four more hops to go, and then she would be at the top. 

"Hey!" Sam shouted when he finally hopped off the tight rope. "What the hell? How did you get up there!"

Wanda rolled her eyes. "I climbed."

"No, he means, how did you get past us?" Rhodey asked, jumping off the rope right behind Sam.

"Well, while you two idiots were fighting, I walked the rope." 

Vision chuckled, earning himself a dirty look from both Sam and Rhodey. But he also earned himself a big smile from Wanda, which made his slightly rude laughter worth it. 

Wanda took another hop, and another, and another. Now she was one hop away from finishing the course, while Sam and Rhodey were still bickering about whose fault it was that they let her get past them. 

"You are doing amazing, Wanda. You are almost there." Vision smiled at her and floated up to the red platform to wait for her to finish. He watched as she took her final hop and pulled herself up to the first platform. She took a minute to catch her breath, but soon she was standing and jumping to where he was standing. Triumphantly, she pushed the button and a buzzer went off, alarming everyone in the training room that someone had finished the course. 

Nat and Steve whipped their heads around, and both of them were completely taken by surprise when they saw Wanda standing on the finish platform and Sam and Rhodey still at the bottom of the final obstacle. 

"Holy crap," Clint commented quietly, "What did you do with her while we were gone?" When he left, Wanda still was barely even standing correctly. Now she was finishing obstacle courses before two people who were trained in the military. 

All Steve could do was stare with disbelief while Natasha grinned. She had faith in Wanda the whole time. 

After catching her breath, Wanda impulsively gave Vision a hug and smiled. "Thank you. I wouldn't have finished if you didn't come get me." She didn't necessarily need help finishing, but she needed the encouragement to get back up again. If he didn't provide that, she would've just sat there. 

Vision was caught off guard by Wanda's hug, but did not hesitate to wrap his arms right back around her when he realized when she was doing. "It was my pleasure, Wanda," he said back. 

She pulled away and laughed quietly and nervously, realizing what she had just done. Her face was already red, but she could've sworn it turned an even darker shade after she hugged Vision. 

"Come now, let's get down from here." He gracefully began floating once again and just floated off the platform and down to the ground, while Wanda had to climb down the ladder. 

Both of them then walked towards their mentors and their two guests. Rhodey and Sam followed behind them, still bickering about their poor performances on the course.

"Rhodes, you loser," Tony said as soon as his friend approached, "You let yourself get beat by a girl, I am ashamed. It looks like you truly do need me to succeed in life." 

Wanda frowned, and so did Rhodey. "Oh shut it, Stark. I'm fine. I just got distracted by this bag of dicks." He gestured towards Sam.

Sam laughed and hit his friend in the arm. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said sarcastically. 

"Hey! Watch your language, Rhodes," Cap warned before turning to Wanda. "Congratulations, Wanda. You are off of training tomorrow. You earned it." 

Wanda smiled widely at Steve's words. She imagined that Pietro would be smiling too and giving her a high five or something. He would be happy that his usually un-athletic sister was actually good at doing something that required strength. 

_ You did earn it, Wanda, _  Vision said to her. 

Wanda looked up at him.  _Thanks, Vizh._

The two of them kept eye contact until Steve began to talk, breaking the silence in the room. "Ok! So, you may be wondering why Stark and Barton are here. Well, the reason is that there is a party tonight at the Avengers Tower and we are all being required to show up." He stopped speaking while everyone except for Wanda, Vision, and Natasha, clapped and whooped. "We have to leave in two hours, so I would go take showers and put on some nice clothes. This is a formal party, so please don't look like crap." 

Sam scoffed. "When do I ever look like crap?"

"Everyday of your life," Rhodey said, patting Sam's back with a fake smile and walking out of the room. Tony followed right behind him.

Steve rolled his eyes. "So immature sometimes." 

"Don't you mean all the time?" Natasha corrected.

He nodded and chuckled. "Yes, that's actually exactly what I meant." 

The two of them turned from Clint, Wanda, and Vision and walked out of the room, leaving the other three in silence. 

Wanda looked down at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with Clint. She didn't blame him for Pietro's death. It wasn't his fault that her brother decided to jump in front of him and sacrifice his lift. But she wasn't sure her dear brother's sacrifice was worth it. Was Clint that good of a man that she should lose her brother so he could live? Yes, he had a family and stuff, but did he deserve to live while Pietro died? She wasn't entirely certain. 

"I suppose I should go prepare for the festivities," Vision said, breaking the awkward silence. "I will see you both shortly." He smiled at them and walked out slowly, glancing over his shoulder once to make sure Wanda was ok.  _Give him a chance,_ he told her just before leaving. Because he spent so much time speaking to Wanda and inside her head, he was aware that she held a bit of a grudge towards Mr. Barton. He couldn't decided for himself whether or not this grudge was misplaced, but he just didn't want her to lash out on him. 

Even after Vision left, Wanda still refused to make eye contact with Clint. She didn't know what to do or what to say. Maybe she should just leave too. She had to take a shower anyway after all that exercise. 

It didn't take Clint long to realize that he was going to have to be the one to speak up first. Wanda wasn't going to speak to him voluntarily, so he would have no choice but to sort of push her into speaking to him. "Great job on that course, Wanda," he said with a smile. "I had no idea you were so good at those."

Wanda didn't smile or look up at him, she just nodded. "Thanks," she answered quietly.

This wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon. He was just going to have to get straight to the point. "Hey, walk with me. I want to talk to you." 

She followed him out into the hallway, but kept her gaze at her feet. She didn't want to talk to him, but she felt like she had to in order to decide whether or not he was really worth Pietro's sacrifice. 

"Listen, Wanda. You know that I feel horribly guilty for what happened... And we both know that me apologizing won't make it any better. Honestly, I don't think anything I say will. But I don't want things to be awkward between us. I do want to be friends with you, and I want to learn about the man who sacrificed his life to save mine."

Now he had Wanda's attention. Straight to the point, no small talk, she liked it. But she still wasn't sure if she could about Pietro openly with him. The only person she could do that with was Vision, and she still cried almost every time she did. She didn't want to cry in front of Clint, not at all. "You're right," she said quietly, "Apologizing won't make it better because apologizing won't bring my brother back. But Pietro was a good man. You should know that at least because he did give his life for you." 

Clint picked up the slightly cold tone in her voice, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from speaking to her. "I do know that. Pietro was obviously a great man. But besides his self sacrifice, what made him such a great man?"

She could feel her bottom lip beginning to quiver as she thought about all the things that made Pietro so amazing. Oh great, she was going to cry. She took a deep breath, but it didn't help enough, she still couldn't get a word out.

Clint put a hand on Wanda's back. "Hey, don't worry. I'm sorry. That was pretty stupid of me, I shouldn't have asked you anything. You don't have to talk about him." Dam, now she was going to hate him forever. What an idiot he was.

Wanda just shook her head and began to walk faster. To her disappointment, Clint picked up his pace as well. "My room is right here," she said, stopping in front of a door. Hopefully he would leave now. 

"Oh!" Clint reached his hand into his pocket. "Hey, before I leave you alone, because I know you want me to. I wanted to give you this." He pulled a folded and tattered picture out of his pocket and handed it to Wanda. 

Wanda unfolded the paper and cupped her hand over her mouth when she saw what the picture was of. The last picture of her whole family together, the one that Pietro use to take out and look at everyday. All of them were smiling, and they weren't forced smiles, they were real. That was when they were all happy, all four of them. It was the day of her and Pietro's 10th birthday. Still, the best day of her life. 

The picture was worn and had ripped edges, but she could still make out the laughing faces of herself, her brother, and her parents. She could still practically feel the joy radiating from the happy family sitting behind a cake with lit candles. She could still remember every second of that happy day exactly the way it happened. 

"I found it with your brother... He had been carrying it on him during the battle. I kept forgetting to give it to you, but I remembered this time. I thought it would be best kept with you." He could see Wanda was going to cry, it was more than obvious. He probably would've cried to if he was in her position.

Wanda finally pried her eyes away from the picture and looked up at Clint. "Thank you," she managed to say, "Thank you so much." She folded the picture back up and threw her arms around Clint for a quick few seconds. "Thank you," she repeated again. Tears were freely falling from her eyes now, but they weren't all sad tears, some of them were happy. She was overjoyed that she had this picture now. She finally had something physical to remind of her of her brother and her parents. And she could look at it everyday, just like Pietro use to. 

"You are very welcome," Clint said with a smile. 

She took a step back and reached her hand backwards so she could open her door and push it open. "I forgive you," she said before taking a step into her room. Technically he didn't do anything, but she still felt it was necessary to forgive him. She could no longer hold any sort of grudge against him. 

His face lit up and he nodded thankfully. No more words were exchanged between himself and Wanda before she closed the door and he began walking back down the hallway. Nothing else really needed to be said.

Wanda, now alone once again, walked over to her nightstand and pulled the stupid picture of some random people out of the frame that was given to her. There was one in everyone's room, but up until now, she had nothing to put in it. She opened up the back and gently laid the picture of her family in it. After closing it, she placed it back on her nightstand and turned it so it was almost facing her bed. She sighed happily and kissed the tips of her fingers before touching them to the picture frame. "I love you guys," she said before turning and walking into the bathroom so she could take a shower and get ready for the party. 

After a nice long, soothing shower, Wanda dried her hair and applied some makeup. She then moved to the closet and slid open the door so she could pick something to wear. Over the past two weeks, her closet had been getting filled up with some real clothing. Some of it was just hand-me-downs from Natasha, and others were things she ordered online herself. She pulled a short black strapless dress from the far right and held it up. This should be good enough for the party. 

She unzipped the back, slipped it on, and then zipped the back up again using her powers. She walked over to the mirror and looked into it. It had been a really long time since she got dressed up for anything. The last time was actually when she was 9 and she had to put on nice clothes for her grandmother's funeral. As she looked in the mirror, she put on her many rings and thought about what this party might be like.

Horrible, of course, was the only word that could come to mind. She never liked parties, never. She only went to them back in Sokovia because they were open houses filled with stupid teens and it would be easy to steal food. Plus, Pietro was there the whole time. This time, Pietro wouldn't be there. She wouldn't have him to punch any guys that tried to flirt with her, or make up a dumb excuse when someone caught her going through the food cabinets. 

She had no choice, though. She couldn't cower in her room. Not only would Pietro not want her to, but she would get in trouble if she did. She put on her only pair of black high heels and reached for the door handle so she could walk out. But before she could reach it, it turned and someone else opened it. 

Vision poked his head around the door and smiled. "Is it alright if I come in?"

Wanda nodded and took a step back so he could open the door all the way.

Vision was dressed in a tuxedo with a red bowtie. He actually quite liked it, and he personally thought the bowtie was a nice touch. But when he saw Wanda in her black dress for the first time, his totally forgot that he had actually been proud of his outfit for the past few minutes. In fact, he totally forgot everything. The only words that he could formulate were, "You look beautiful." She did, she looked stunning, absolutely stunning. She was beautiful everyday, but now she was just defying every standard he had for beauty.

She blushed and looked away from him for a second. "Oh, thank you, Vizh. You look very handsome." She smiled and looked back up at him. She had to admit, he did look good in a tux. He already had a perfect body, but the tux really highlighted how good looking he really was. Not many people would probably see him the same way, but she didn't care much. Not many people knew him like she did either. 

"Thank you, Wanda." He was sure that if he smiled any wider, he might get stuck like that for the rest of his life. But if he was able to see Wanda for the rest of his life, that wouldn't be a problem, because he smiled when he saw her anyways. "Are you ready to go to the party?"

Wanda took a deep breath. No, she really wasn't. She still didn't want to go. His presence there might make it a bit easier, but still, it was a party with people she probably wouldn't like. She was about to shake her head, but then she turned around and noticed the picture she now had sitting on her nightstand. Seeing the happy faces of herself and her family made her smile. She could almost hear all their voices telling her that it was going to be alright. 

So she turned back around and nodded instead of shaking her head. "Yes, I think I am." 

 


	13. Failure

"Are you sure that you want me going on this mission?" Wanda asked, her voice filled with obvious sadness.

Steve nodded and crossed his arms. "Wanda, what you're doing barely qualifies as a mission. You are just getting a car with Tony and Natasha, then driving into the city to check up on something. And yes, I'm sure I want you to go."

Tony put his hand on Wanda's shoulder and smirked. "Come on, witch, it will be fun!"

Her eyes flashed red and she glared at Tony's hand on her shoulder. "Fun is not the word I would use to describe it."

Natasha took a step forward from where she was leaning against the wall and looked at Wanda. "What word would you use, Maximoff?"

"Peklo," Wanda told her with a frown. 

She chuckled and nodded in agreement. Peklo meant hell in Sokovian, which was exactly the word she might use to describe this too.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Would you three get out of here already? There is about thirty people in downtown New York who are expecting the Avengers to go check out a possible super powered human living in their apartment building."

Tony just ignored Steve and looked at Natasha. "Hey, what did she say?" When ignored, he looked at Wanda. "What did you say?" He glanced back at Natasha. "Come on, Nat! What did she say?"

Nat and Wanda just laughed together as they began making their way towards the garage. 

"I call shotgun!" Tony said as soon as Natasha opened up the garage door. 

"Oh no you don't," Nat told him, "Wanda is sitting up in the front with me, and you are sitting in the back." 

Tony frowned. There was no way he was going to go against what Nat said. She was too scary. 

Once everyone was in the car and buckled, Natasha flipped a switch on the top of the car and opened up the garage. As soon as the door was up enough, she stepped on the gas smirked as she listened to the engine roar while the sped away from the facility. 

The car Nat was driving was one of Tony's, of course. She wasn't going to be going around with one of the Jeeps marked with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, especially after S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed not so long ago. Some people would probably see them as a threat and call the cops. And if that happened, they would never get around to the mission, which was the reason they left the facility in the first place. 

"So," Tony said, interrupting about twenty minutes of peaceful silence, "Wanda, how are things with you and my robo son?" 

Wanda's eyes widened and she looked back at Tony. "Are you referring to Vision?"

He nodded. "Who else would I be referring to?"

"I don't know, but I would never know it was Vision because he is not a robot."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, I'm sorry, android. Does it really matter that much? He isn't here, is he? Besides, robo boy is my nickname for him. He has heard it before and he doesn't mind it."

"It matters to me," Wanda told him honestly. 

Tony scoffed. "Ok. Alright, I won't call him that anymore. But my question still stands. How are things with you and him?"

Wanda turned back around in her seat so she no longer had to look at Tony's face. "What things? There is nothing between us."

"Oh please, there is so something between you two. I see the way you look at each other."

"And what way is that?" 

"With googoo eyes, duh! You have a crush on him, and he has one on you. You two are like high school students who are too afraid to admit their own feelings." 

She looked down at her lap and sighed. She did like Vision, of course she did, but did she like  _like_ Vision. No, no way. But then again, there was that one night on the roof.. when they held hands. Did that mean something?

"See!" Tony said with excitement, "You're thinking about it! You totally like him!" 

"Would you just shut up, Tony?" Nat said almost as soon as he finished speaking. "I think you're just making her uncomfortable."

"Now why would I do such a thing?"

"Because you're annoying."

Wanda hated to admit it, but Tony was actually right. She was thinking about it. And by  _it_ she meant her possible feelings for Vision. They did spend a lot of time together, and he seemed to care about her quite a bit. Maybe there was something going on between them and she didn't realize it. But until she knew for sure, she would just go with Nat's explanation. Tony was annoying. 

"Fine, if you two are going to be boring. Could you at least put on some music? And not something crappy. The last thing I want to hear is country music. This car has a great sound system. Put it to good use and turn on the Rock station."

Nat didn't really want to listen to music, but putting it on might shut Tony up. So, she turned the volume up and found the rock station. Hopefully he wouldn't start singing. That would be pure torture for her ears. 

_Carry on my wayward son._

_They'll be peace when you are done._

_Lay your weary head to rest._

_Don't you cry no more._

"Ah yes!" Tony exclaimed. " _Carry on my Wayward Son._ A true classic." He began to rock out with his air guitar and bop his head up and down until the singing started up again. When the lead singer of Kansas began singing, so did he. 

_Once I rose above the noise and confusion._

_Just to get a glimpse beyond this allusion._

_I was soaring ever higher,_

_But I flew too high._

Tony sung along to every word in his loudest (and worst) singing voice. But despite that, Wanda actually found herself tapping her foot along with the music.

_Though my eyes could see,_

_I still was a blind man._

_Though my mind could think,_

_I still was a mad man._

_I hear the voices when I'm dreaming,_

_I can hear them say-_

Now came the chorus, and Wanda was singing along in a very quiet, barely audible voice.

Tony noticed this and decided to encourage her a little more by singing louder. He knew he wasn't a good singer, so he was sure Wanda had to be better. Maybe if she heard him fail at singing, she would be inclined to sing louder herself. 

_Carry on my wayward son._

_They'll be peace when you are done._

_Lay your weary head to rest._

_Don't you cry no more._

Another guitar part ensued, and Tony decided to play his air guitar again and make guitar noises while doing so. His silly actions actually brought some laughter out of Wanda, and seeing her slightly enjoying herself made Natasha smile. 

_Masquerading as a man with a reason._

_My charade is the event of the season._

_And if I claim to be a wise man,_

_It surely means that I don't know._

_On a stormy sea of glooming emotion,_

_Tossed about on like a ship on the ocean._

_I set a course for winter fortune,_

_But I hear the voices say-_

By this third chorus, the entire car full of Avengers was singing along to the song, even Wanda, and not nearly as quietly as before.

_Carry on my wayward son._

_They'll be peace when you are done._

_Lay your weary head to rest._

_Don't you cry no more._

_No!_

Now the longest guitar interval was playing and everyone was bopping their heads or tapping their feet, and Tony still had his air guitar out. Not one of them cared what anyone else thought of them at that moment because they were just having fun and being silly. Even Wanda felt comfortable in that environment. 

_Carry on!_

_You will always remember!_

_Carry on!_

_That can equal the splendor!_

_Now your life's no longer empty,_

_Surely heaven waits for you!_

_Carry on my wayward son._

_They'll be peace when you are done._

_Lay your weary head to rest._

_Don't you cryyyyyyy._

_Don't you cry no mooooooore!_

_No mooooooooooooooore!_

The rest of the song was just guitar now, but still fun nonetheless. And by the end of it, everyone was laughing and smiling. It was a song of few words, but it managed to really lighten the mood in that car. 

About 15 rock songs and a lot of horrible singing from Tony later, the Avengers pulled up to their destination. Natasha parked the car at a meter and pulled some change out of one of the cupholders so she could feed it. When she had an hour's worth of change in there, she locked the car and walked up the steps to the door of the apartment building directly in front of them. She clicked the buzzer for room number 2 and waited until it clicked and someone answered.

"Who is it?"

"This is Natasha Romanoff. I'm hear to respond to the problem you have been experiencing with one of your neighbors."

"Oh!" The voice said, perking up a bit, "You are here for Harold. Yes well, come on up. I'll explain to you what's going on." 

The door lock clicked and all three of the Avengers walked in. Room two was on the first floor, so they had no trouble getting there and knocking on the door. 

A man dressed in a grey t-shirt opened up the door and smiled at the people standing before him. "Hi there. Welcome to my humble abode. Please, please, come on in." He stepped back and opened up the door a bit more so all three could make their way inside. "Find yourself a seat anywhere and make yourself a home," he instructed while closing the door after they were all clear of it.

Tony cringed at the place he had just stepped into. It was a small, dingy, messy apartment with a weird smell to it and a dank feel. Thank goodness he never had to live in anything like this. 

"So, what seems to be the problem?" Natasha asked, not really wanting to sit anywhere near this man's dirty laundry, which was everywhere. 

"Well, Harold is the guy that lives in the apartment above mine. And well, we've been experiencing some problems with him lately." The man sat down on the loofa near the coffee table and looked up at Nat, Wanda, and Tony.

"What kind of problems?"

"I'm sure you have heard that they are pretty serious, otherwise you people wouldn't be here." 

Tony nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Please, go on."

"Well, to start, there has been some weird red stuff dripping from my ceiling." He looked up at the ceiling and pointed towards the left corner of the room. "I don't know what it is, and the building manager refuses to go upstairs and check it out. But I'm pretty sure it's from Harold's room."  


"Ok, besides your sanitation problem, what else is happening?" 

"Well, when I was walking home last week, I looked upstairs at where Harold's window is and saw him punching someone or something really hard. I also heard a lot of grunting and some screaming. Then, two days ago, when I was on my way to work, I saw Harold in the alley next to the building. He had lifted up the dumpster over his head and just tossed it at the wall of the building next door. And I know it wasn't an empty dumpster because the trash gets taken out tomorrow, and I had just put a bag in there the night before and I could barely fit it in."

"So you think Harold might have super strength or something?" Nat asked. 

The man nodded. "Yeah. Something like that. I've called the cops before, but I don't think any of them ever showed up. There was something going on with some guy who has been taking out big gangs, so I think they're pretty preoccupied with that."

"Well, thank you.. Umm.."

"Christopher," he said with a smile.

"Christopher. We are going to go on upstairs and pay Harold a visit right now." Nat smiled at him and lead Tony and Wanda out the door of the room and towards the stairs to the left. "This could be nothing, guys. But be on guard anyway. You never really know."

When they got up to the room, Natasha knocked on the door and waited for an answer. But instead of getting an answer, she just heard a window breaking from inside. Immediately, she knew something was up. She took a step back and kicked the door in without any hesitation, only to get a glimpse of a man climbing out the broken window and jumping down to the sidewalk. 

"Shit," she mumbled, quickly turning around and heading back towards the stairs. "Come on! He is going to get away!" 

Nat and Tony took off, but Wanda's eyes were glued to Harold's room. In the corner of the room there was three dead women, all cut up to pieces. The carpet was stained red, just like the ceiling of Christopher's apartment had been. On the wall of the room, there was a large picture of a man in a suit that Wanda vaguely recognized. She had seen the image somewhere else, but she couldn't put a finger on it. Underneath the image was the word, 'Coulson,' written in blood and capital letters. And scattered across the floor was garbage and dead animals such as rats and mice. She was absolutely horrified by what she was seeing. What was wrong with this man?

Slowly, she managed to back away and made a run for the stairs. All the training she had been doing for the past 12 weeks really paid off, because before she knew it, she was out on the sidewalk, chasing the same man that Tony and Natasha were. Except of course, she was much further behind them. Catching up really wasn't hard though because of all the other people on the streets. It was really hard to run in the first place.

Soon, Natasha had Harold cornered in an alleyway. There was nothing there except for the three Avengers, Harold, and a dumpster. Natasha thought this would be easy, well, that was until Harold pulled a gun. But instead of pointing it at them, he pointed it at his own head. 

"Leave me alone!" He screamed, "I didn't do nothing wrong!"

Wanda knew that wasn't true. She saw those bodies in his room. This man was a murderer. 

"Put the gun down Harold, we aren't accusing you of anything," Natasha said calmly. 

"Stop screaming!' He told Natasha. "You are so loud!"

Natasha furrowed her brows, but nodded anyway. "Ok, ok," she said in a lower voice. "Just drop the gun."

Loud? Natasha hadn't been loud. Now Wanda was curious as to what was going on. She decided to do a little poking around in Harold's mind, just to get an idea of what was going through his head. Once she had entered, she immediately regretted it. He was right, everything was so loud.

"Harold please," Natasha said.

Natasha's voice only made it worse, for both Wanda and Harold. Now that she was in his head, she could hear the way he did. Apparently, this man had super human hearing, and it was immensely unbearable. Everything was 100 times louder than it should be and it was bursting her eardrums. This was just as bad as when she could hear everyone's voices from their heads.

"We want to help you, Harold," Tony told him.

After Tony spoke, Wanda began hearing the voices of more people. She turned around and saw there was several people gathering around to see the spectacle they were putting on. Each of them was whispering to their neighbor, but to her it sounded like they were shouting with a bullhorn in her ears. She tried extracting herself from Harold's mind, but even once she couldn't hear his thoughts, she could still hear in the same way he did. Now that she had opened up her mind to him and was exposed to this extreme form of stress, she seemed to still be linked to him in some way.

"Please do not pull that trigger," Natasha said.

"What is going on?" One of the people in the crowd asked.

"Is that Iron Man?"

"Where is his armor?"

"Who is the guy with a gun?"

"Why the hell is the peace being disturbed again?"

"Is it that vigilante guy?"

"Did someone die?"

"What's going on?" 

"What's going on?"

"What's going on?"

"What's going on?"

Everything Wanda could hear would be enough to drive someone crazy, sort of like Harold was. But unlucky for Wanda, she already was pretty insane, so this just made everything a million times worse. "Shut up," she said quietly, tears building up in her eyes. 

But not one person did.

"Put the gun down, Harold."

"I hope no one gets hurt." 

"Why does crap like this always happen here?"

"Are they aliens?"

"What's up with this?"

"I just was on a walk and this shit happens."

"They knocked into me on the sidewalk."

"Can I go home now?"

Wanda really couldn't handle pressure like this very well. She wondered how long Harold had been like this. If he was born with this power, she surely would've killed herself by now. What a horror it must be to live like this everyday, hearing every single word as if someone is shouting with a bullhorn in your ear. This was pure torture. She couldn't handle it. She just couldn't.

"Shut up!" She finally shouted, a burst of red exploding from her as she did. 

The red energy hit everyone around her aside from Natasha and Tony. For some reason, it went right through them and they were perfectly fine when it all faded. But the fate of all the civilians around them and Harold was not the same. Each one of them was disintegrated, just as the Ultron bots had been on Sokovia after her brother died. 

She looked around and cupped a hand over her mouth after seeing what she had done. She was absolutely disgusted with herself. How could she let this happen? Why couldn't she control her powers? Why couldn't she get totally out of Harold's head? What was wrong with her? She was a monster. 

With that, she ran away from the scene as fast as she possibly could. She didn't know where she was running, but she wasn't going to stop. She killed all those innocent people because she intruded in that man's mind and couldn't detach herself from it.  _I'm a monster._ She had to hide, she had to go somewhere, anywhere but here. 

After what seemed like forever of running, her legs couldn't carry her anymore. She collapsed on a sidewalk, sobbing, and hating herself now more than ever. She covered her face with her hands and continued to sob almost violently. Well, that was until she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her and lift her up. She didn't even need to look up to know who it was. It was the same pair of arms that had lifted her up and carried her off her falling city 13 weeks ago. 

Vision had found Wanda through their mental connection. He sensed it immediately when she was in distress and wasn't going to let her stay out here alone. He knew what happened because he had looked in her mind, and even though what she did was horrendous, he knew it wasn't her intention. Wanda wouldn't hurt anyone if she could help it, he knew her better than that. Now he was just going to have to convince her of the same thing, and that was going to take a long time. 

 


	14. No Rest for the Wicked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long to write more chapters!  
> i know, i am trassshhhh  
> hopefully everything that happens from here on out will make up for my failure to update the story!  
> love you all <3

_"The investigation of the deaths of 5 innocent bystanders and a super powered individual has just come to a close," the blond newswoman from channel 13 stated._

_The bald man next to her nodded. "The official statements of the police commissioner, the three Avengers involved, as well as Captain Steve Rogers, have also been released."_

_"All of the Avengers were found innocent of criminal activity and have been told to proceed with their normal lives," said the blond woman._

_The screen on the TV suddenly flipped from the two news anchors to Tony Stark who was speaking. "What happened in that alley was a tragedy, but the Avengers cannot be held responsible. The killer was Harold Undastane. We never actually found out what his superhuman power was, but it must've had something to do with exploding."_

_The screen then turned to a member of the press who was holding out a microphone. "Miss. Romanoff, can you tell us what happened in the alley in New York?"_

_"People died," Nat answered simply as the camera turned to face her. "Mr. Undastane lost control of his abilities and people died. It isn't more complicated than that."_

_"Miss. Maximoff," another member of the press said while the camera moved to focus on Wanda, "There has been speculations that you were the cause of this disaster. What is your response to that?"_

_Wanda stayed silent for several seconds before looking up at the man asking her a question. "My response is that anyone with such speculations is wrong. I was not the one responsible for this.... disaster." She spoke with confidence, enough to make her statement believable._

_After she finished speaking, the dozens of press dying to get statements erupted with more questions and the screen flipped to Steve Rogers, who was standing at a podium, looking as he always does, strong, confident, and admirable._

_"Captain Rogers, what do you think of what occurred with the members of your team in the alley the other day?"_

_Steve didn't even hesitate for a second to answer the question. "I think was happened was awful. There is no other way to describe it. Six people died, five of whom likely never did a thing wrong in their lives. But the blame cannot be put on Mr. Stark, Miss. Romanoff, or Miss. Maximoff, as they were just trying to keep Mr. Undastane calm and prevent him from hurting any more people. The three of them were unaware of Mr. Undastane's abilities and had no idea of what was going to happen."_

_"Captain Rogers," another press member shouted, "Why do you think all the bystanders died, but your Avengers didn't?"_

_"I cannot answer that question for you, as I was not there, and I still do not know the extent of what Mr. Undastane was capable of."_

_"How do you address the people who are certain the deaths of all those people were caused by Wanda Maximoff?"_

_Steve looked straight into the camera, looking slightly menacing. "To those who think that Wanda Maximoff was capable of such a horrific act, I urge you to consider that this was not her doing, but rather the doing of a man who had no idea how to control his abilities. I assure you that Wanda is innocent of all crimes that she is being accused of."_

_Just before another member of the press could as Steve a question, the screen changed to the police commissioner giving his official statement about the incident. "On July 23, 2015, six people were killed in a freak accident that involved one superhuman individual named Harold Undastane. Mr. Undastane was one of the six who died on this day. It is most likely that Mr. Undastane was one of those who are being called Inhumans, and he did not know how to control his abilities. Due to this, he died, disintegrating himself, and five people who were watching the event occur. Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, as well as Wanda Maximoff, all members of the team known as the Avengers, were present during this event but were left unscathed. All charges brought against them have been dismissed, and unless proven otherwise, they are innocent."_

_The screen changed back to the news anchors, who were both shaking their heads and frowning._

_"There you have it, all of the official statements made on this case," the blond woman said._

_"While those statements may have been official, it is possible that private investigators are working to figure out if all that has been said was actually the truth."_

_"Most people are also saying that Wanda Maximoff, one of the Avenger's newest recruits, was the one responsible for this tragedy. It is possible that she will continue to be questioned about this ev-"_ The blond woman was cut off by the TV being turned off.  

"You shouldn't be watching this," Steve said as he put the remote control back down on Wanda's dresser. 

Wanda turned around and looked at Steve, frowning. "How can I not?"

"By keeping the TV off," he answered, walking over to the bed and sitting down.

"All those people are dead because of me. It's my fault. Mine, and mine alone. And I lied about it on national television. So did you, and Natasha, and Tony. You shouldn't have done that. And I shouldn't have done that. I deserve to be in prison."

Steve shook his head. "No you don't. You told me what happened, Wanda. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I lost control."

"You were never taught to handle such a thing." 

She crossed her arms. "But I shouldn't have lost control like that. Six people are dead because of me."

"We all make mistakes, Wanda. You cannot blame yourself for this."

Wanda scoffed. "Who else am I to blame, huh? Harold did nothing wrong. I am the one who went into his head. I am the one who could hear everything he could. I am the one who lost control. And I am the one who killed all those people. There is no one else to put the blame on but me."

Steve frowned. Technically, she was right. But he didn't want her feeling guilty for the rest of her life. Maybe instead of being nice, he was just going to have to be brutally honest. It seemed like such a technique would work better. "Look, you weren't trying to hurt anyone, but you did, I get that. It was an accident. But sitting here, watching news stories about it isn't going to help. You need to get back out there and fight." 

"I didn't just hurt people, I killed people. And with all due respect, Captain, what is fighting going to do? I'm just going to go out there and probably do something worse."

"That is not true. You can control your powers better now. It's been three weeks since that happened, you need to get back on your feet."

"I need to be punished."

"No, you need to move on. Think about it, Wanda. It pains me to admit this, but each and every one of us are killers." Just like Ultron had said they were. That was one thing he was right about. "But we do not sit and think about it all the time. We do not let the guilt eat away at us for the rest of our lives. We get up, we fight, we make up for what we have done wrong. None of us are perfect, but we use our powers and skills for good, so we can stop those who kill on purpose and for fun."

"But you lied for me. You all lied for me. Why? I did not deserve it. You could get in big trouble."

"We could, you're right, but it would be worth it. You are apart of our team, whether you like it or not. We all care for you here, you have to understand that. We are a family, and we will always have each other's backs. No matter what happens." 

"I am not worth it," she said quietly, looking down at her bed. 

"You are worth it. Every one of us here thinks so. If you weren't we wouldn't have lied. Would've been very easy for us to just turn you over to the police while the rest of us walked free. But we didn't. Why? Because you did nothing wrong on purpose. It was a mistake, an accident. You deserve a chance to make up for that mistake. Plus, this place wouldn't be the same without you. You may not see it, or think it, but we do want you here, Wanda." 

She nodded slowly, unsure of what to say next. She still didn't believe she was worth lying over, but there was no point in arguing with Steve. What happened, happened. There wasn't anything she could do about it right then. 

"I want to give you your first chance to make up for what happened right now. We are going on a mission."

Her eyes widened and she looked up at Steve, quickly shaking her head. "I cannot be trusted."

"Just listen. It's not a mission that should involve any fighting. It's simply an extraction. Last year, seven Americans were captured and held under the Russian government. The Russians have agreed to allow the Americans to go free and all we have to do is go pick them up." 

"The Russians will not be... fighting us?"

"No. We will go, we will get the Americans, we will bring them back to our jet, and we will come back home."

"If it is so simple, why do we have to go? Why do they not just send the army?"

"Sending us is a precaution. Also, I volunteered. I thought it would be nice of us to do something good after what happened in New York. It might take the attention off that event a little." 

"So no fighting?"

He nodded. "No fighting."

She really didn't want to go, but it seemed Steve wasn't going to leave her alone unless she agreed to this. Maybe he was right anyways, this could be exactly what she needed to take her mind off of things. So instead of arguing, she just sighed and nodded. "Alright. When do we leave?"

Steve smiled and stood up. "Two hours. Meet me in the hangar in an hour and a half for a debriefing." He turned from her and walked towards the door, but before he could leave, he stopped and looked back at her. "And Wanda, if you ever want to talk, just know that I'm always here." 

Before she could even think of anything to say in response, he was gone. Well, it looked like she was going on a mission. She had some time before she left, so she decided she would go see if she could find out who would be joining her on this mission. Not by asking Steve, of course, but rather by asking Vision. Really, she just wanted to talk to him, and the topic of the mission was just a good excuse to do so. 

She found him in the living room, standing near the window, seemingly staring out at the empty yard. This definitely wasn't the first time she had seen him standing and staring like this, he actually did it quite often. It may seem like something strange to others, but to her, seeing him like this was very... entrancing. It only peaked her interest in him more each time she saw him displaying such behavior. She hated to disturb him from his peace, but she was desperate to hear his soothing voice right now. She needed something to calm her a bit before the upcoming mission. Instead of speaking and risking scaring him, she walked up to his side and looked out the window with him. Just being in his peripheral vision usually snapped him out of his zones. 

Vision had been observing the beauty of nature when someone much more beautiful walked up next to him and stole his attention. He smiled and looked down at her, glad to see she was up and out of her room. He knew what happened three weeks ago in the city had been taking its toll on her, especially because she only ever left her room to train. This had to be one of the first times she was actually somewhere other than her room or the training room. That had to be a good sign. "Good morning, Wanda. How are you today?"

Wanda looked up at him, smiling ever so slightly. "As good as I can be, Vizh. You?"

"Very well, thank you for asking. It is wonderful to see you outside of training and your room. Any reason why you decided you would take this important step today?" He probably shouldn't question her decisions, but Sam told him that when dealing with someone going through a hard time, getting them to admit things was important. Of course, Sam also told him not to pry, but if the person was willing, then it was okay to ask. Sam was also able to guess that the person Vision was so concerned about was Wanda, so he also urged him not to push her too hard considering she has been through a lot. 

She nodded. "Yes, actually. I am going on a mission today." 

Vision's eyes widened with shock. A mission? Captain Rogers was sending her on a mission after what had occurred? Should she not be given more time to rest and recover? 

"Do you think I'm ready for that?" She asked, looking away from him and back out the window. 

He of course thought she deserved more time to herself, more time to relax. More time for her to relax also likely meant more time with him. When she isolated herself in her room, he made a point to visit her at least once a day and spend some time with her so she didn't get lonely. She certainly didn't seem to mind his presence, if she did, he would've left her alone so she wasn't bothered. He thought it was actually possible she enjoyed his presence at least a little bit. Most of the signs pointed that way. For example, she smiled when he was around. After everything she has been through, he noticed it was hard for her to smile a lot of times. She smiled around Natasha, and sometimes Steve, but she smiled the most around him. Another thing was that she never really seemed to get bored of him being around her. She never asked him to leave, or stopped talking to him because she didn't want to hear him talk, or said anything rude to drive him away. She usually kept their conversations going, and asked him to explain things in detail, which lead him to believe she actually liked it when he spoke. But really, none of this mattered, what mattered was how Wanda was feeling and how he was going to answer this question. He didn't really think giving her his real opinion was right in this instance because it might discourage her, which was the absolute last thing he wanted to do. After all, He was only born four months ago, so maybe he shouldn't be giving his opinions at all. He was too inexperienced for such a thing. So instead of giving an opinion, he decided to state a fact. "If you believe you are ready, Wanda, you can be and will be ready." 

"I'm just scared," she admitted in a whisper, "I don't want to hurt anyone else." 

Vision gently placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "Just trust yourself, Wanda." He couldn't promise her she wouldn't hurt anyone. It pained him to admit that, but it was true. Wanda was spectacular in every way, but she did have the capability of being dangerous, not unlike every other person including himself. But Wanda's capability of danger was something to be worried about considering her immense power. He trusted her fully, but he did not want to make her promises that he couldn't guarantee. He believed that she could go on a mission without hurting anyone, she just needed to believe in herself a little bit more. 

"I'll try," she responded, finally looking back up at him. Looking into his stunning blue eyes made her feel hopeful. But that hope did not last. In fact, it pretty much diminished completely as soon as she walked away from Vision. Less than two hours later, she was dressed in her new uniform (the old one had to be retired after she took a bullet back in DC), and on a quinjet which was headed to Russia. With her was Natasha and Steve. Both people whom she was comfortable around, but not enough where she wasn't nervous. Even if this mission was meant to be non-violent, she still had her fears. 

It was a long flight to Russia, but eventually they touched down and got out of the jet. They were greeted by two Russian soldiers who led them to a car, which they all got in the back of. It was a bit tight, but not too awful, especially because the car ride was short. They were driven to what seemed to be some sort of military facility and let out of the car. Now what was suppose to happen was Natasha and Steve would speak with someone at the facility, who would retrieve the Americans, give them to the Avengers, who would then take them to a truck provided and head back to the airport. It was meant to be simple, and short. But it seems like nothing can ever just be simple and short for the Avengers. 

When they entered the facility, the man who was running it claimed to have no knowledge of a deal between the American and Russian governments to release the prisoners. And no matter how much Nat tried to explain what happened, the man continued to deny any knowledge of such a deal. He even called his superiors and they claimed the same thing as he was. So due to the fact that no one could prove the Avengers were suppose to be there, the Russians got hostile and treated them as if they were intruding. One guy even purposely set off the alarm so every guard in the entire place would line up and point their weapon at the three Avengers. All three of them threw their hands up in the air, trying to show that they didn't mean any harm.

Steve was desperately trying to think of some way they could get out of this where no one would be harmed. Hopefully the resolution would be something diplomatic and civil, but he had a bad feeling the only way they were getting out of here was if they fought. The last thing he wanted to do was fight, he told Wanda there wasn't going to be any fighting, and he intended to keep it that way. He just needed to think a little harder. But in the end, he wanted to get out unscathed with the seven prisoners. Getting the prisoners out was just as important as their own safety. Especially because there was rumors one of the prisoners had information about the missing persons case he had been on for a long time now. Getting this guy out and saving his life could mean that he would find his best friend. 

Nat's eyes darted around the room. She made note of the three visible exits, the fifteen guns trained on them, the twenty guards who were holding those guns, and the cell phones strapped to each guards' leg so they could call in more troops. Oh yes, and she couldn't forget the fact that neither her, Steve, or Wanda were carrying any weapons. It had been part of the deal that they carry none on them. She did try to sneak a knife in with her, but Russians are very thorough when it comes to weapon searches and they found it before she even walked through their metal detector. Even without her knife, there was a slim chance she could make a move and fight them all. But what were the chances they wouldn't get shot? The problem was that they wanted to avoid the shooting, and starting a fight would undoubtedly lead to shooting. Steve didn't even have his shield on him, so if the Russians did decide to fire, their safety would depend on how fast Wanda could throw up an energy shield, or how fast they could duck behind something. Hopefully they wouldn't have to duck behind anything if Wanda was able to shield them, but she wasn't sure what to expect from that girl anymore, she was too much of a wild card. They had known each other three months, and while she did like her very much, she knew better than to believe she could predict anything Wanda did. Wanda acted according to her emotions, rather than logically. She just hoped Wanda's emotions told her that right now they really needed her to protect them if they were fired upon. 

Wanda could hear the thoughts of Natasha and Steve, both of them were projecting them pretty clearly, despite it being unintentional. She wasn't entirely sure what to do. It seemed like Natasha wanted to fight and Steve wanted to talk his way out of this. But she had a feeling that either way they would end up getting shot. Even if she was able to throw up an energy shield, would she be able to hold it until every guard there ran out of bullets? It was pretty unlikely. In the rare chance that she was, there was no way they weren't just going to call some more people to come and fight them, likely with better weapons or something. So what could they do? The chances of diplomacy working were even worse than the chances of them escaping after a fight. So she was actually leaning towards an attack, despite not wanting to hurt anyone. The lives of her friends were much more important than those whose guns were aimed at them. 

So she made a decision, probably a stupid one, but she did it anyway. This was her chance at making up for what she had done in New York. If she could get her friends out unharmed, as well as the prisoners, she would definitely consider this a success. If not, she would likely be facing more mind-numbing guilt when she got back to the facility. _"I'm going to fight,"_ she projected to Steve and Natasha, earning herself a worried glance from the Captain and a smirk from the ex-assassin. 

With that, she wrapped one of the closest guard's gun in red energy and pulled it out of his hand so it would hit another guard. As soon as that happened, the other guards began shooting and Nat and Steve were forced to move from where they were standing. Nat went right for the gun which was now on the floor and quickly began taking out people with her extraordinary aim. Steve ran forward and punched the one guard standing in front of the door which most likely would allow access to the rest of the facility. He pushed the doors open and ran, hoping to find the prisoners while Nat and Wanda took out the guards.

With the combination of Wanda's magic, and Natasha's skills, the twenty guards that had been aiming their guns at them moments earlier were all soon on the floor grumbling in pain, knocked out, or dead. 

Nat quickly walked over to the computer one of the guards had been standing behind so she could access the security system and figure out which doors to unlock for Steve. For some reason, Russian computer systems were so much more complex than American ones, so she hated them very much. "Wanda," she said while perusing through the security cameras, attempting to locate Steve on one of them, "I need you to make sure no one else comes into this room. Go stand by the door." 

Wanda nodded and made her way to the main entrance. She peaked out the window and saw that no one was currently outside. That had to be a good sign, right? 

"I remember you," one of the guards who was laying nearby the door mumbled. He had his hand pressed to a wound on his chest, but it didn't seem to be stopping any blood flow whatsoever. 

Wanda looked at him, but did not respond. She could've knocked him out, but it seemed he was already suffering enough. What would be the point?

The man coughed up some blood and then chuckled weakly, still looking up at Wanda. "I remember you and your brother."

Now he had Wanda's attention. "What about my brother?" She spat, keeping her voice low in an attempt not to distract Natasha. 

"My family lived in Sokovia. I visited frequently. Your brother was constantly stealing from them." He coughed again. "That little shit took my family's hard earned money straight from their home." 

Wanda's eyes flashed red and scarlet energy suddenly began swirling around her hands. "Don't you dare talk ill of my brother."

"Where is he anyway? In jail I presume?" 

She grit her teeth and threw small hex at the man, knocking him into unconsciousness. She didn't notice until she looked back up that Steve had come back to the main room with all seven prisoners. 

"Alright, lets go," he said, gesturing towards the door. 

Wanda nodded and opened up the door, holding it as each prisoner walked through. The three Avengers followed right behind them. Just as Natasha was pointing to a truck they could steal, a gunshot rang out, and one of the prisoners dropped to the ground. Before they could even locate were the shot had come from, six more shots went off, and the rest followed suit of the first one. After that, there was nothing but silence. 

Steve stood in disbelief. They didn't even have a chance to move towards the truck before all seven of them were dead. All he could do was throw his arms up to protect himself. But apparently, the shooter, or shooters, didn't want him. They just wanted the prisoners. Well, they had gotten what they wanted. But now these people would never see their families again, and he would never find out if any of them had any information about his best friend. He bowed his head in respect for the fallen, while also trying to hide his anger. 

Nat made quick work of checking their pulses to see if any of them had survived the gunshots. Unfortunetly, none did. Each must've died on impact. She observed the gunshot wounds and determined that there was at least three different shooters considering the angles each bullet entered the bodies. So that meant three people had walked right up to the front of the base, probably set up snipers, and waited until they exited the base to kill every prisoner. How could three people do that? Hadn't Wanda been watching the outside? How could she not have noticed? She turned to the youngest Avenger and crossed her arms. "Wanda," she said, snapping the girl's attention away from the bodies on the ground. "How did this happen?"

"They were shot," she answered sadly. 

"I know that, Wanda. But how did the shooters get here? Weren't you making sure that no one else came to the base?"

Oh shit. That man, he was distracting her. She was talking to him, so she hadn't been doing the job that Nat gave her. Had she been standing there, watching the outside, reaching out her mind to see if anyone was near, this wouldn't have happened. But she didn't do that. She let her emotions get the best of her. When that guard mentioned Pietro... she just couldn't look away. 

Steve looked up at Wanda and took a step towards her. "What happened, Wanda?"

"I-I was distracted. One of the guards... he-he mentioned-"

"It doesn't matter," Steve said, anger clearly in his voice. "Let's go home. This mission is over." He walked away then, not looking back at Nat or Wanda. Nat did the same, but at least gave Wanda a look of pity before doing so. 

Wanda stood there, trying to figure out a way in which this wasn't her fault. She could've suggested that the men were there before they went into the base, but that was impossible, she scanned with her mind to find any signs of life. There had been none, except inside the facility. She also scanned when she first went over to the door to check if anyone was out there and it had been clear. That meant that those snipers were set up after she was distracted. So this was her fault. So she had the deaths of seven more people on her hands now. She let Steve down too, which made the whole thing a million times worse. 

The entire truck and quinjet ride back the facility was filled with silence. The only time the silence was broken was when Steve got on the phone to explain what happened during the mission. The sadness in his voice was obvious as he spoke to the government representatives about their failure. He was disappointed in himself, as well as his team. He had been sure this was going to be easy, and despite the bump in the road, it actually almost was. They would've made it out with those prisoners. They could've made it out with them. But... mistakes were made, mistakes which still needed to be explained, and also forgiven. It just might take a little longer than he wanted it to in order to get to that forgiveness. 

Wanda sat in the back corned of the quinjet, holding her head with her hands. She was thankfully able to keep herself from crying, which was good. But while she was able to prevent tears, she could not prevent hearing the word  _failure_ over and over again in her head. It was torturous and painful. The more she heard it, the more she was starting to really believe it. She could hardly believe that before she left for this mission she had the slightest bit of hope. Now all hope that she had ever felt was far beyond gone. All she could feel was sadness, anger, pain, guilt, the list could go on and on. She felt trapped in her own mind and she knew there was no escape.

After what was very possibly the longest quinjet ride of Wanda's life, they finally made it back to the Avengers facility. As soon as they landed, and the back hatch opened, she was up and out of her seat, moving quickly towards the door of the hangar. She could hear Steve calling out for her, telling her that he needed to stay for some reason, but she opted to ignore him and keep walking. She made it back to her room fairly quick and slammed the door behind her, locked it, and then walked to her desk. She sat down, pulled out a piece of paper as well as a pencil, and quickly began writing. 

Being that it had been 11PM when she got home, and the amount of sleep she had been getting in the past three weeks was minimal, she fell asleep after about three hours of writing and re-writing a letter. It wasn't very long after that when she found herself having a nightmare.

_Wanda stood in the middle of a pitch black room, unable to see anything around her. "Hello," she called out, hoping someone would answer. But unfortunately, the only answer she received was the echo of her own voice. She stood there for a several more minutes in silence before she heard footsteps approaching. "Hello," she called out again._

_"Harold Undastane," the man responded, walking closer to Wanda and stopping about four feet from her._

_A second after he spoke, a light turned on above him and she could see his face. He was exactly who he said he was, Harold Undastane, the super powered individual from New York that she disintegrated after going into his head. Before she could say anything to him, he opened his mouth and spoke again._

_"Store clerk. 35 years old. Ex-wife. Three children. You killed me."_

_Wanda was about to apologize and beg for forgiveness when she heard more footsteps and another man appeared next to Harold, a light illuminating his face._

_"Craig Tinsdaile. Accountant. 28 years old. Fiance. One sister. You killed me."_

_After Craig finished speaking, eleven more lights flickered on, circling Wanda, one person standing under each._

_"Tina Everlo. Doctor. 39 years old. Husband. Five children. You killed me."_

_"Odette Marks. Painter. 45 years old. Ex-Husband. One child. Four brothers. You killed me."_

_"Ronald Garrison. Student. 23 years old. Boyfriend. One sister. Two brothers. You killed me."_

_"Jon Timbold. Student. 18 years old. Girlfriend. Twin brother. You killed me."_

_Those five people were obviously the ones that had been killed by her energy blast in New York. She had recognized each of them before they even said their names. The other seven she had trouble figuring out at first, but it didn't take too long for her to realize they were the Americans that got captured by the Russians. The ones whose deaths she was technically responsible for._

_"Oliver Sindan. Lawyer. 48 years old. Wife. Three children. One sister. You killed me."_

_"Lizzie Hidina. F.B.I. Agent. 36 years old. Husband. Two children. One brother. One sister. You killed me."_

_"Everette Inolo. Politician. 40 years old. Husband. One child. Three sisters. You killed me."_

_"Timothy Rosco. C.I.A. Agent. 43 years old. Ex-husband. Four sisters. You killed me."_

_"Dalia Honolo. Lawyer. 37 years old. Wife. One brother. You killed me."_

_"Vernon Evenla. Politician. 43 years old. Two brothers. One sister. You killed me."_

_"Kyle Hutra. Private Investigator. 30 years old. Wife. One child. Two sisters. You killed me."_

_As each one of them spoke, Wanda could feel a burning pain in her chest, almost as if someone was ripping her heart out. She fell to her knees in tears, shaking her head, apologizing profusely._

_"You killed me. You killed me," they repeated in unison over and over again._

_Wanda felt like she was being taunted by their words, so much so that it almost sounded like a song after some time of hearing it. But soon, they stopped, and it was right as she felt like her head was about to explode too, so that was a good thing. She looked up after a minute to see if there was a specific reason they had stopped, and realized that there was another person walking towards them. She couldn't see their face but she could hear their footsteps. Two people in the circle moved over and allowed room for the newcomer to step into the light. When Wanda saw who was now standing in front of her, she burst into tears all over again, feeling more guilty than ever._

_"Pietro Maximoff. Unemployed. 19 years old. Twin sister. You killed me."_

_"Pietro!" She shouted, standing up so she could move towards him and grab his shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Pietro. I didn't mean it. Please, please. I'm so sorry!"_

_Suddenly they all started chanting again. "You killed me. You killed me. You killed me."_

_Wanda took several steps back from Pietro and clamped her hands over her ears. "SHUT UP!" She screamed, but it didn't deter any of them. In fact, it only encouraged them. All fourteen of them began stepping closer and chanting louder. "STOP IT! PLEASE!" She couldn't take it any longer._

_"There is no rest for the wicked, Wanda Maximoff," Pietro said loudly so his voice could be heard over the chants._

_"Stop it please," she cried out, just wishing all of this would end._

Then, she woke up, her whole body shaking and surrounded in scarlet energy. She stood up from her desk chair, trying to take deep breaths and calm herself down. Looking around her room, she found that that she had done quite a good job at destroying almost everything, or at least giving it a new position on the floor. As she bent down to pick up her alarm clock, she heard a  _swoosh_ and quickly looked up towards the door to see Vision standing there. 

"Wanda. Are you alright?" He asked immediately. 

She obviously wasn't. Especially because she could still hear the chant of those she killed playing over and over again quietly in the back of her mind. But did she really want to tell Vision that? Maybe she could just play it off as if she wasn't fine, but she would be okay, and then he would leave. "I just had a nightmare, Vizh. I'll be fine." 

He took a step closer to her, concern written all over his features. "Are you sure?"

She placed her alarm clock back on her nightstand and crossed her arms. "How did you even know there was something wrong?" She asked, avoiding his question. 

"I could sense your distress."

She stepped towards him and sighed. "I've had nightmares before, Vizh. Ones much worse than this. Why is it that this was the only time you could sense my distress?"

"I can sense it every time you have a nightmare, Wanda. I just-" He looked down, ashamed of himself. "I never came because I did not think you would want me here... Especially in the beginning. I was aware that you weren't completely fond of me, so I thought it best to keep my distance. But tonight, I could not ignore your distress any longer. I had to come make sure you were alright."

"Well, you were right when you thought I didn't want you here. For a long time, I would've been very angry had you shown up in my room in the middle of the night. But right now it's... appreciated. So thank you for coming to check up on me."

He smiled. "You are very welcome, Wanda. It is my pleasure. Can I do anything for you? Get you anything?" 

She shook her head. "I'm okay. But thanks." Slowly, she sat down on her bed, smiling ever so slightly at him.

"Alright. Well... goodnight then." There was clear disappointment in his voice. He just wished he could be of more assistance to her. He knew she was in pain, and he wanted to anything and everything to alleviate that pain for her. He could not understand why he felt so compelled to help her, but he just knew he had to. 

Wanda noticed right away that Vision was sort of upset by her not asking anything of him. And while she didn't exactly get why he would be upset, she also didn't want him to be. Lucky for him, and her, she actually did think of something that he could do for her. "Wait," she said before he could phase back through her door, "Can you... stay with me?" 

Vision stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her. "Of course." He floated up off the ground and over to her bedside. He didn't quite understand why she would need him there, but he was happy to do whatever she needed him to.

"Remember how I connected our minds so I wouldn't be so vulnerable to hearing the voices in other people's heads?

He responded with a nod.

"Well, I was thinking..." She stopped speaking for a moment, wondering if this might be pushing the boundaries between them. Vision could always say no if he didn't want this. Hopefully he wouldn't though because she had a feeling this might actually help her. What the hell, it was worth a shot! "Maybe I could connect my mind to yours as I slept, this way maybe I wouldn't have nightmares."

He smiled, quite impressed by Wanda's idea. Everyday she did something that surprised or impressed him, most of the time it was both. Wanda certainly was one amazing woman. "I think that is a wonderful idea, Wanda. You know you are welcome to within my mind."

Wanda nodded and climbed under her covers so she could get comfortable in her bed. "Thank you so much, Vizh. You know I really appreciate it." 

"It is my pleasure." He moved so he was standing near her wall, putting himself in a position that was not too close to her, but also not too far away. 

"You don't have to stand, Vizh. Please, sit. You can grab my desk chair." She laid her head down on the pillow and yawned as she watched Vision walk over to her desk and take the chair. 

While taking the chair, Vision noticed the letter which was sitting open in the middle of the desk. Hmm.. why would Wanda be writing a letter? He could ask, but he felt like right now she just needed to sleep. He placed the chair down near her bed and sat down, smiling at Wanda as he did so.

Wanda entered his mind and immediately felt a million times more calm than she had been before. Vision's mind was beautiful, honestly stunning. It was so serene, organized, and peaceful. She felt blessed to even have access to such an outstanding mind. She quickly found the area of his mind that he had created just for her to go to when she felt she needed to. This area was comprised of a wide open field with bright green grass and chirping birds. Here, she could just lay down in the soft grass and watch the clouds pass over her, nothing ever disturbing her or interrupting her peace. She wished she could attain such peace in her own mind, but unfortunetly, her mind was far past saving. There was nothing but chaos within her head, and that was all she assumed there ever would be. But lucky for her, she had Vision's mind to escape to.

She closed her eyes once she had settled into Vision's mind and smiled as she began to allow herself to drift off. Before she fell into sleep completely, she reached her hand out for Vision's, hoping he would take it. "Goodnight," she whispered, adjusting her position in the bed ever so slightly, but still holding her hand out for Vision.

Vision was confused at first, but then realized what Wanda was implying he should do. He felt a burst of joy within him as he took her hand in return, squeezing it just a little. This was the second time they had held hands, and the sensation he felt was still just as amazing as the first time. He honestly wasn't sure if he would ever tire of the feeling that was having her soft skin against his own synthetic skin. 

He monitored her vitals closely as she began to fall asleep. As soon as her heart rate slowed down to what would seem appropriate for a sleeping 19 year old, he figured that she was finally sleeping peacefully. He waited several minutes from that moment in order to ensure she was sleeping before closing his own eyes and accessing a corner of his mind that she would not be able to get into. Or at least she would not be able to get into it right then. Wanda's powers were growing and changing every day, one day, it was completely possible that he wouldn't be able to hide anything from her. Not that there was much he needed or wanted to hide away, but he felt like what he was about to do might offend her in some way. Everything about it actually screamed _wrong,_ but his curiosity got the best of him. So instead of deleting the memory, like he should've, he opened it up. 

His mind worked somewhat like a computer. He had files and data and could access the internet without actually using a computer or connecting to wifi. Mr. Stark also discovered that he was a walking wifi hotspot. That confused him at first, but then Mr. Stark explained that a hotspot allowed people to connect to the internet without using data. He wasn't entirely sure what to think of this new fact considering it did make him seem like more of an object than a person. But should he really care? Technically he was not a person, he was synthetic, so he should probably be seen more as an object as it was. That thought made him a little sad, so he decided to push it off to the side and read what he had just opened up. 

Only minutes earlier, when he had grabbed the chair from Wanda's desk, he accidentally laid eyes on her letter. Due to him being synthetic and whatnot, he had an eidetic and photographic memory, so naturally he had a snapshot of the entire thing right in his mind that he was just able to open up and read. He had some feeling that reading it was wrong considering it was Wanda's letter and she did not ask him to read it, but it was also left out in the open, so how private could it possibly be? There was also a possibility that his rationale in this situation was a bit screwed up, but he could discuss such a matter with Wanda on a later date. For now, he was just going to ignore the feeling which he assumed was guilt and read the letter. 

_Dear Police Commissioner Enskine,_

_My name is Wanda Maximoff. I am the youngest and one of the newest members of the team known as the Avengers. I currently reside at the place which they call the Avengers Facility along with my fellow team members. Recently, myself, Tony Stark, and Natasha Romanoff, were involved in an incident which resulted in the deaths of five civilians and one super powered individual. The official report says that the one responsible for those deaths was the super power individual, named Harold Undastane, who exploded and disintegrated himself as well as the civilians around him, but somehow avoided myself and my fellow Avengers._

_I am writing this letter to you in order to inform you that what we claimed happened, was not at all what actually happened. Yes, that does mean we lied to you, and the press. But do not focus on that, rather, focus on the real story which I am telling you now. Harold Undastane had the ability of super hearing. This ability made it so he could hear everything within a 30 foot radius as if it was being said with a bullhorn to his ear. How do I know this? Well, it's simple. I went into Mr. Undastane's head, trying to get a sense of what was wrong with him. I hadn't known what his ability was until I went into his head and suddenly I could hear everything he was hearing. I have no idea how I got myself connected to him in such a way, but I do know that due to my lack of control over my own abilities, I managed to get stuck in his mind. I could not withdraw and therefore I could not stop hearing everything the way he did. It drove me crazy to the point where I lost control of all my other abilities as well and disintegrated Harold and five civilians. I am unsure how my fellow Avengers managed to avoid being hit, but my guess is that it was me subconsciously protecting them from my abilities._

_So there you have it, that's the real story. You may think that I have said all I have to say, but actually that's not true. I also have another confession to make. I'm sure you remember the news story that was just released revealing the seven Americans who were captured by the Russians? Very soon, you will also see a story that talks about how they tragically died while being rescued. Yeah, well that was me too. I didn't pull the trigger this time, but I loaded the gun. Metaphorically speaking, of course. The mission went awry when the Russians claimed they had no knowledge of a deal being made to take the prisoners home. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and I did somehow manage to fight the Russian guards that were pointing guns at us, and get the prisoners. While Captain Rogers was retrieving the prisoners, and Natasha was hacking the security system, I was meant to be watching the outside to make sure no one else came to threaten us. During that time period, I got distracted and stopped doing my job. After Captain Rogers got the prisoners and we led them out of the base, they were each shot down by Russians who had set up their snipers while I had been distracted. Had I not been distracted and just done what I was suppose to do, those seven Americans would be alive and well today._

_That's thirteen people, Comissioner Enskine, thirteen people whose blood is on my hands. You must've seen the news stories releasing the pictures and information of these men and women that have now all lost their lives thanks to me. What I am asking for is not pity, but rather punishment. I do not deserve to be kept safe after all this death. I deserve to be in prison. Or maybe even sentenced to death. Whatever you decide, I just ask that you punish me in a fitting way, no matter how harsh it is. The guilt of killing all these people will be with me for the rest of my life, so I at least want to live a life that I think is deserving of a criminal such as me. I am sorry for lying to you. But you must look past that. It no longer matters. What matters is that I'm a a killer, a monster, and both deserve to be in prison._

_Thank you,_

_Wanda Maximoff._

Reading that letter left Vision in a state of utter shock. Wanda was turning herself in. She wanted to go to prison and rot away in a cell for the rest of her life. Or worse, she wanted to be executed. He was... astounded to say the least, and not in a good way. He considered himself to be a rational thinker, so in his opinion, what she was doing here was completely irrational. Wanda may have done some things that could not be categorized under 'good,' but never would he think she deserved to go to prison for doing them. Yes, killing was wrong, undoubtedly. But Wanda never wanted to kill anyone, never. She never meant to let anyone get harmed, as her only intention was to help. Not only that, but Wanda falls under special circumstances. He was aware she didn't want to be pitied, but what she has been through has to be taken into consideration when looking at her case. She was born in a country that was constantly at war. Her parents were killed when she was only ten years old. She grew up on the streets with her brother, stealing things for a living in order to survive. She wanted to make her country better so she volunteered for an experiment in order to help do so. After what must've been pain and torture, Wanda and her brother were given gifts but were never actually able to use them for the purpose they got them for. In fact, almost right after they learned to control their gifts they were forced into yet another war. In an attempt to destroy the man who produced the weapon that killed her parents, she gave him a vision which led to the creation of an A.I. who had ill intentions. She helped this A.I. get quite far in his plan before realizing that he was going to destroy the entire world. While the A.I. was stopped, she lost her home city and her brother all in the same day. So that left her both homeless, and without a family. Now she must live every day knowing that she is partially to blame for her own brother's death and the destruction of her home. Not only that, but her unstable and ever growing abilities are constantly throwing her off and causing her pain. 

Wanda Maximoff was no killer, not a purposeful one at least. She was just a powerful woman in a lot of pain. No one would ever be able to justify to Vision that Wanda somehow belonged in prison. No one, no where. He hoped that one day he would be able to convince her of the same... Well, that was assuming she didn't mail this letter and end up being taken away from here in handcuffs. 

"Wanda," he whispered, squeezing her hand. He knew she was sleeping, but maybe some part of her was listening to him. "You are not a monster. You are an amazing, beautiful woman who deserves a much better life than this one. You should not be in prison now, or ever. You never meant to harm anyone. So please, I beg of you. Do not send that letter. The Avengers need you. I need you. You belong here with us, and no where else."

_______

The next morning, Wanda woke up to find Vision was still at her side, still holding her hand. She smiled at the sight of him, "Good morning, Vizh."

Vision smiled brightly at Wanda, glad to hear her voice. "A very good morning it is, indeed, Wanda. How was your sleep?"

"It was wonderful, thanks to you." She sat up and yawned, finally letting go of his hand so she could stretch out her arms. 

Vision felt an emptiness inside of him when her hand left his. It was quite sad, actually. "I am glad I could be of assistance. If you would not mind, I would like to offer more assistance right now."

She rubbed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, curious to know what more Vision could possibly offer. "Go on."

"I'd like to make you breakfast."

"Vizh, you really don't have to. I'm sure you have something better to do than make me breakfast."

He shook his head. "I do not. Trust me, there is nothing I would rather be doing than making you something to eat, Wanda." He already knew her eating habits were pretty bad, so if he ever had the chance to help her out in that specific area, he would never pass it up. 

"You are seriously too good to me, Vizh." 

"I don't think anyone could ever be too good to you, Wanda." With that, he stood and floated away from her bed, and right through her wall and into the hallway, leaving Wanda quite stunned. 

She got up off her bed after a minute and walked over to her dresser so she could find something else to wear besides her Avengers outfit. Now that she had slept in it, it was becoming quite uncomfortable. As she was rummaging through one of the drawers, she heard a knock at the door and turned around. Who could be visiting her now? She could reach out her mind to check, but where has that gotten her lately? So instead, she just decided to risk it. "Come in," she called out, quickly folding up the letter on her desk before anyone could open the door. 

Wanda watched door handle turn, then looked up to see Steve and Natasha walking into the room. She was sort of shocked to see them, considering what had happened in Russia, but at the same time, she wasn't. She had two guesses for what was about to happen. One, they were going to yell at her for her actions in Russia. Two, they were going to fire her from the Avengers. Either way, she deserved what was coming to her. 

"Hey Wanda, mind if we talk to you for a bit?" Nat asked, closing the door behind her. 

Wanda shrugged and sat down on her bed. "Go ahead." 

Steve took a seat next to her and sighed quietly. "What happened yesterday... It's not entirely your fault."

"Really? Was someone else suppose to watch for Russians assembling outside that facility?"

He shook his head. "No, but I think I pushed you too hard. You weren't ready for field work again, but I thought-"

"Stop," Wanda said, standing up and looking down at him. "What happened on that mission was my fault. I am responsible all the death. Me, not you, and not Natasha. You didn't push me, you were right, I had to get back out there to begin healing. And it was working too, until that guard mentioned my brother. It was a stupid mistake, letting my emotions get the best of me, and neither of you can take the blame for it to try and make me feel better. I don't deserve that."

A proud smile emerged on Natasha's face as Wanda spoke. She knew Wanda was stronger than everyone had anticipated her to be. Yeah, she had her faults, but she wasn't the kid that she had initially been viewed as when she came to the facility. 

"Before you can say anything else," Wanda continued, "I want to apologize. I know it won't make anything better, or fix what happened, but I'm going to say it anyway. I'm sorry for messing up on that mission and getting all those people killed. And I'm also sorry for losing control of my powers in New York and killing all of those other people. Neither thing that happened was what I had intended to happen, but I do think I deserve to be punished for both."

"Alright... well, it's okay," Steve responded. "We both forgive you for everything you did. And while the criminal justice system would say you deserve to be punished, I think you deserve a second chance. I know what it's like to lose someone close to you, I know the emotional trauma that can come with that. So really..." He faltered a bit, unsure what to say next, "How about you take the second training session off today? You missed the first one, which is no big deal, but just skip the second. And right after that, we can work on improving your control over your abilities and your emotions."

Wanda quickly shook her head. "With all due respect, Steve, I think I'd rather not skip training."

Nat smirked. "Yeah, Steve. She isn't a kid anymore so I think it's time we put her to work." 

Wanda looked at Nat and nodded. "I agree with that." 

Steve stood up from Wanda's bed. "Well, okay then. I guess we will see you at training." He turned and headed towards the door, opening it up and then waiting for Nat to join him.

Nat placed a hand on Wanda's shoulder and smiled at her. "You're a real Avenger now, Wanda. See you at training." 

Wanda watched as both of them left. As soon as the door was closed, she walked over to her dresser and pulled out the letter she wrote. She took a deep breath and then tore it right down the center and tossed it in the trash. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it without dwelling on the past, but rather working to make amends for it. Steve was right the first time they spoke, that was the only way she was going to make this better. She stared down at her ripped letter for several more seconds before moving back over to her dresser and grabbing some work out clothing from it. Just as she was taking her shirt off, she heard a  _swoosh,_ and turned around to see Vision standing in her room holding a plate of waffles. 

She quickly covered herself up again and took a seat on the bed. "Sit down Vision. I think it's time we had a talk about knocking." 


End file.
